it lasted two
days longer, Gerard would have been starved out, for he lay concealed in
the priest's hiding-place. As soon as the watching party took their
leave, he emerged from his refuge, and succeeded through multifarious
difficulties in safely escaping over seas.

About this time--from what source is uncertain--a hint reached the
Government to the effect that Gerard might possibly, and Hall would
probably, be found in one of the priest's hiding-places at Hendlip Hall
in Worcestershire, the residence of Mr Thomas Abington. Edward Hall,
alias Oldcorne, [Note 4] was Mr Abington's private chaplain; and though
there is little evidence extant to connect him with the plot, the
Government appear to have been extremely suspicious of him. When,
therefore, the suggestion reached them that they might as well inspect
the curiosities of Hendlip Hall, the authorities lost no time in sending
down Sir Henry Bromley, of Holt Castle, at the head of a searching
party, for that purpose.

Until 1825 or thereabouts, Hendlip Hall remained standing, on the
highest ground in the neighbourhood between Droitwich and Worcester, and
rather nearer to the latter. A most curious, cunningly-planned,
perplexing house it was--a house of houses wherein to secrete a
political refugee or a Jesuit priest--full of surprises, unexpected
turnings, sliding panels, and inconceivable closets without apparent
entrances. "There is scarcely an apartment," wrote a spectator shortly
before its destruction, "that has not secret ways of going in or going
out; some have back staircases concealed in the walls; others have
places of retreat in their chimneys; some have trap-doors, and all
present a picture of gloom, insecurity, and suspicion." On one side was
a high tower, from which the approach of any enemy could be easily
observed. The house had been built in 1572, by John Abington, cofferer
to Queen Elizabeth; but his son Thomas, the owner in 1605, had added the
hiding-places. Such concealed chambers were very common in houses
belonging to Roman Catholic families; and in the safest of all those at
Hendlip Hall, two priests were at that moment in close confinement. The
Government had been so far truly informed. Hall, too, was one of them:
but Gerard was not the other. Sir William Wade would have danced in
delight, could he have known that his colleagues were on the track of
the great Provincial of the Jesuit Mission to this heathen country of
England, the