igns
"Guido Faukes" in a free, elegant Italian hand, the hand of an educated
man. But it is pitiful to see the few faint strokes which sign the
fifth, even the "Guido" being left unfinished. He is supposed to have
fainted before the word could be written. The subsequent reports are
fully signed, and in a firmer hand; but the old free elegant signature
never comes again.

That night an unheard-of event occurred at the White Bear. Hans
Floriszoon was two hours late in coming home.

"My lad!" said Edith, meeting him in the hall, "we feared some ill had
befallen thee."

"It hath not befallen _me_, Mrs Edith," was the answer; "and may God
avert it from us all! But these men that Aubrey was wont to visit--Mr
Catesby, Mr Winter, and the rest--are now confessed by the caitiff in
the Tower to have an hand in the plot."

"Aubrey?" The word was only just breathed from Edith's lips.

"I went thither at once, and spake with Aubrey, whom I found to have
heard nought, and to be very sore troubled touching Mr Winter, whose
friendship I can see hath been right dear unto him. I besought him to
lie very close,--not to come forth at all, and if he would communicate
with us these next few days, to send a messenger to me at Mr Leigh's,
and not here, for it seemed to me there was need of caution. After a
time, if all blow over, there may be less need. Will you tell my Lady
Lettice, or no?"

"Dear Hans, thou art ever thoughtful and good. Thou hast done very
well. But I think my mother must be told. Better softly now, than
roughly after--as it may be if it be let alone."

Lady Louvaine sat silent for a few minutes after that gentle
communication had been made. Then she said--

"`The floods lift up themselves, and rage mightily: but yet the Lord,
who dwelleth on high, is mightier.' 'Tis strange that it should be so
much harder to trust Him with the body than with the soul! O father,
keep my boy from evil!--what is evil, Thou knowest: `undertake for us!'"

On the 23rd of November, one of the prisoners in the Tower escaped the
sentence of the law, by an inevitable summons to the higher tribunal of
God Almighty. Francis Tresham died in his prison cell, retracting with
his last breath, and "upon his salvation," the previous confession by
which he had implicated Garnet in the Spanish negotiations. It has been
suggested that he was poisoned by Government because he knew too much;
but there is no foundation for the charge ex