etty
nearly certain to turn out a Jesuit. Moreover, Sir William loved a joke
only less than he bated a Jesuit; and apathy in any pursuit was not one
of his failings who wrote that "he thanked God on the knees of his soul"
for the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot.

Mr Mease was not to escape Sir William's penetration. He was anxious
to see a little more of Mr Mease, and of Mrs Perkins also.

For the moment, however, he was doomed to disappointment. Sturdy James
Johnson, Mrs Perkins' servant, would not betray his employers, even
when put to the rack, until he had suffered appallingly. Half-an-hour
had been sufficient to exhaust Guy Fawkes' endurance, but James Johnson
bore three hours. Even then he could tell little. For his mistress's
brother he knew no name but Mease, except that he had heard him
addressed as "Farmer:" but he did know, and had known for two years,
that the real name of his mistress was Anne Vaux. He could also say
that she had been visited by a Mr and Mrs Skinner, a Mr and Mrs
Thomas Jennings, a Mr Catesby, and a little gentleman whom the latter
called Tom, and whose name he said was Winter. As to himself, Johnson
asserted that he was "a Romishe Catholic," and "never was at church nor
yet at mass in his life." Frightened little Jane Robinson, aged
fourteen, admitted that mass had been said in the house, but when asked
what vestments the priest wore, could only answer that "he was
apparelled like a gentleman."

Sir William Wade went down once more upon the knees of his soul, when
his ears were refreshed by these delightful names. At Harrowden, the
seat of Lord Vaux, the family had already been questioned to no purpose.
Mrs Vaux, the mother of the young Lord, and the sister-in-law of Anne,
was astonished that anybody should suspect her of a guilty knowledge of
the plot. Having previously denied that she knew any such person as
Gerard, she subsequently confessed that Gerard and Garnet had been
frequently at her house, and that she had a vague suspicion that
"something was going to happen." Harrowden must be further
investigated; and admissions were wrung from the servants at White Webbs
which satisfied the commission that the relations between Anne Vaux and
Garnet had been of an intimate character. Sir William Wade was now on
the track of a Jesuit, and might be trusted to pursue that enticing path
with eager and untiring accuracy.

The watch set at Harrowden was removed just too soon. Had