_ CHAPTER XVII. SOWING THE WIND
Late of an evening near to Michaelmas, three men applied for admission at the door of a house close to the edge of the Thames, and which, by reason of its surroundings, assured security from observation to those who might choose to abide therein. Knocking upon the panel with the hilt of a heavy rapier which he had drawn from its scabbard, the shorter of the trio listened impatiently for the sounds which would precede the drawing of the bolts within. His companions, who were in the shadow of a neighboring wall, glanced about apprehensively.
"'Tis an ill-favored place, Sir Thomas," whispered one, grasping tighter the hilt of his sword as though the touch of the steel might calm in a measure his disquietude. "Scarce is it to my liking that friend Guido hath chosen so----"
His companion laughed uneasily. "He hath a keen wit," replied he, "and much precaution is necessary that none suspect at the eleventh hour. As thou seest, good Percy, 'tis a most peaceful region, with few abroad and no signs of the authorities."
"Peaceful, indeed," replied Percy, casting his eyes down the poorly lighted and narrow street through which he had come; "so is a charnel-house, yet one would scarce----"
A second rap upon the door, delivered with increased force, interrupted the whispered conversation.
"Within!" growled Fawkes, bending so that his lips were on a level with the keyhole. "Art sleeping, Master Keyes, or----"
The shuffling of feet answered, and a voice nearly inarticulate from drowsiness demanded in no gentle tones who sought admittance to an honest dwelling at so unseasonable an hour.
Upon Fawkes replying, the bolt was withdrawn, the door opened a few inches and the face of Master Keyes appeared in the aperture. The soldier of fortune motioned to his companions who quickly joined him.
"Good Robert, here, is a most cunning rogue," said he half laughingly, "having feigned sleep----"
The warden of the door forced a sneering smile. "Faith!" said he, making way that the others might enter, "'twas such feigning as may ever come to me when I would forget my troubles, and there be in my purse no silver to purchase that which is opposed to conscience. What wouldst thou, Guido Fawkes? that I sit upright in a corner from eventide till morn that thou be not kept waiting before the door? Ill was the day when, listening to thy words, I undertook this errand; thou art fain to wish that I may be blown to the devil by thy six and thirty barrels of----"
Fawkes hastily laid his open palm across the mouth of the irate man. "What now?" growled he gruffly, "that thou must cry aloud the contents of thy cellar? Hast not been paid?"
"Aye," grumbled the man, drawing back, "for sitting over hell! May those selfsame Spanish hirelings to whom thy powder goeth, be blown to their master with scant courtesy!"
Winter whispered in Percy's ear: "A pretty trick, good Percy, yet what more natural than, wishing to turn a penny by furnishing powder to the Dons, brave Guido should act with much secrecy, so that it be not seized by the authorities?"
Already they were in the house, and the door was securely fastened. Fawkes laid aside some of his cautiousness.
"Friend Robert is a faithful man," said he, turning to his companions and speaking with much significance; "therefore have I entered into an agreement with him, that I, being under contract to the Spanish ambassador to convey certain barrels of gunpowder into Flanders, he should guard them till the time be ripe for loading into such vessels as will carry them to the ship which I have hired."
"Then," replied Winter, taking from his wallet a gold piece and tendering it to Keyes, "he will accept this token which, I warrant, will be increased by others of its kind if his diligence pleaseth thee."
On seeing the gold the man's ill temper vanished. "Good gentlemen," cried he, seizing eagerly the coin, "I spoke but hastily."
"That we know," said Winter, "and, perchance we, had we been so rudely awakened, would have done as thou didst. Hath any disturbed thee during thy guardianship?"
"None, save a few drunken braggarts who found their way hither, and would have battered in the door. Did any come whose wits were sharper than their caution, I would have----"
"What?" asked Fawkes pointedly, as the speaker hesitated.
"Faith!" replied Keyes, "being a poor man, and a bag of gold pieces forthcoming upon the safe loading of this devil's face powder onto the Spanish vessel, 'twould be but just, that did any seek to cheat me of it--well, the river tells no tales; what think ye, gentlemen?"
Percy shuddered; Winter pressed his hand. "Nay, good Percy," he whispered, "'tis scarce like to happen, yet even so, we would be but instruments in the hand of God."
During this conversation Fawkes, who seemed to be familiar with the house, had led his companions into a small apartment whose window overlooked the river which, washing against the stone foundation of the dwelling, offered a safe retreat did any, bent upon trouble making, force the street door.
Winter and Percy glanced about them. The place was bare save for a rude cot, a shaky table upon which flickered an iron-bound lantern, and a small chest that, did occasion require, could be placed against the narrow door. At a sign from Fawkes, Keyes drew aside the bed, disclosing in the floor the outlines of a trap door, which covered an opening to the cellar beneath. Stooping, he raised the heavy cover, revealing the top rounds of a rude ladder leading into the blackness below.
"'Tis there!" said Fawkes shortly, "wouldst see it, gentlemen?"
Percy drew back, when Keyes, misunderstanding his hesitancy, caught the lantern from the table.
"I will go down," said he, "and thou mayst safely follow; the stuff be well housed, tight as a drum, and, as thou seest, the lantern scattereth no fire."
"But will not the dampness of the place destroy its usefulness?" asked Winter.
"There is little fear," replied Fawkes, "although it lieth below the surface of the river; the cellar is hewn from the rock, and dry as a tinder-box. Lead the way, good Robert, take heed with thy light."
With much cautiousness the two men followed Fawkes and his guide down the ladder to the floor ten feet below. Reaching it, Keyes held up the lantern so that its feeble rays penetrated the darkness. Piled against the walls of the subterranean chamber, Winter and Percy discerned irregular dark objects rising to the height of their heads.
"'Tis the wind which will free England of the pestilence," said Fawkes grimly; then catching the quick glance of Winter, which reminded him of the presence of Master Keyes, added: "Which sown in Flanders will bring forth a whirlwind against those who serve not God after the manner of the righteous."
"A goodly amount of the grains," said Percy, placing his foot again upon a round of the ladder; "and how much saidst thou, good Master Keyes?"
"As Fawkes hath told me, some six and thirty barrels," replied the watchman; "enough, methinks, to send all London up to the stars."
"And the King, also," whispered Winter in Fawkes' ear, and added, "let us to the room above. My stomach hath small liking for thy cellars."
Percy was already half way up the ladder, and the others quickly followed. To the soldier of fortune and to Master Keyes, 'twas of little moment that they had stood in the presence of such an engine of destruction, which, if properly applied, would shake to its foundation the strongest structure in Europe. But in Winter and Percy, especially the latter, the presence of the gunpowder, thoughts of the purpose for which it was to be used, and the lives which must be sacrificed, overcame for the moment their fanatical zeal, and they withdrew with a feeling akin to horror. 'Twas truly the seed of death; and in sowing the wind might they not, themselves, reap the whirlwind?
A short time in the upper chamber restored their calmness, and they no longer seemed such fearful things, those grim barrels of harmless looking black grains, which might lie harmless for centuries, as they had seen them, or, at the touch of a single tiny spark, shake London as by an earthquake, vacate a royal throne, and exterminate in an instant the proudest government in Europe. Percy, of more gentle disposition than his companion, gazed into the face of Guido Fawkes with a feeling akin to awe. His was the brain which had suggested this terrific method for the destruction of the King and Parliament; his the voice that had pronounced the words which laid bare the plan to Catesby, Winter and the others. If Fawkes had never come from Spain, perhaps----, but the subject of his gloomy thoughts was speaking in reply to a question put by Sir Thomas.
"Thou hast noted," said he, "that this dwelling lieth close to the river; so, 'twill be no great matter to remove the barrels from the cellar to the deck of a boat lashed beneath the window, and, if a dark night be chosen for the work, none, I warrant, will perceive the matter. What sayest thou, friend Robert?"
"That there is much of wisdom in thy speech," replied the other; "and once upon the boat, the channel to the sea, where will lie thy Spanish galley, is open. When, thinkest thou, the powder will be moved?"
"I know not," replied Fawkes, sharply,--"in due time----" Then, turning to his companions: "Gentlemen, having seen that which lies below, what may be your pleasure?"
"To return quickly," replied Percy, relieved at the thought of escaping from such an ill-favored locality.
Keyes chuckled. "Thou art in haste to quit my presence, and my pretty devil's powder, good gentlemen," said he; "didst sleep so near as we, perchance you would come to love it as Master Fawkes and I do. One spark from this weak lantern, and----"
"Come!" cried Percy, drawing his arm through that of Winter,--"we are satisfied; what need to tarry longer?"
In the street once more they, with Fawkes leading, hastened to gain a more populous section of the city. 'Twas to Winter's house they went, where Catesby was waiting impatiently. He, with Fawkes, had visited the house by the river on the night previous, therefore he fell into their discussion with good knowledge of the subject in hand.
"Thou shouldst have been a general," said he to Fawkes; "it scarce comes to me how so goodly a quantity of powder could be stored in yonder place without detection."
"'Twas no great matter," replied Fawkes, setting down the wineglass Winter had handed him, "a little here, a trifle there, requiring some weeks in the gathering; but now, as thou hast seen, there is enough."
Winter laughed. "Faith!" said he, "I would fain not have thee for mine enemy, friend Guido; else, some fine night, while I dreamed not that danger threatened, my good dwelling would come to grief."
Fawkes smiled grimly. "Not so," said he; "if thou wert an enemy, and I had sworn to kill thee, 'twould be by other means,"--touching the hilt of his sword. "What thou hast seen is reserved for kings and parliaments."
"The powder is well stored," broke in Catesby,--"what next?"
"That hath been attended to," replied Percy. "As thou knowest, certain events must transpire ere Master Keyes gives up his guardianship. To me has fallen the duty of looking into the matter. The cellar of the Parliament House must be reached ere further effect can come from our planning."
"What hast thou decided?" asked Winter.
"Upon a simple solution of the matter," replied the Gentleman-Pensioner. "Foreseeing our course, I have made an agreement with one Henry Ferrers for the hiring of a dwelling close to the House of Parliament. The documents are already signed and sealed. As in many houses, the cellar extends some feet below the surface of the street and, next it, lies the foundation wall of the House."
"Then," cried Catesby, "we will play the mole; is it not so, good Percy?"
"Thou hast said it," replied the other; "to reach the cellar beneath the House of Lords we must pierce through the foundation. 'Tis of great thickness and the task will not be easy."
"I am little used to delving," growled Fawkes, "but there is no other way."
"And Garnet?" inquired Catesby.
"Garnet hath gone from London," said Percy, "nor will he return until the fuse has reached the powder. He is now at Coughton House to await such time as we shall summon him to join our forces."
"And them hast all in readiness?" asked Winter.
"In the house of Henry Ferrers are tools for digging--picks, hammers and the like," replied Percy.
"And in another place lie six and thirty kegs of trusty powder," added Catesby; "the instruments are at hand." Then rising: "Come, gentlemen! our conference is ended; to-morrow we work, not talk." _