CHAPTER VII
DEATH TO THE FLEMINGS!
That morning Aline had gone early to the city at the invitation ofMistress Gaiton to spend the day with Ursula, under the escort of herbrother and Edgar. They were to have fetched her before dusk, but earlyin the afternoon Richard Gaiton himself brought her back.
"I am sorry to bring your daughter back so early," he said to DameAgatha, "but I had news that after the king turned back this morning,the leaders of the rebels have been haranguing them, telling them thatit was clearly useless to put any trust in promises, or to hope thatredress could be obtained from the king, who was surrounded by evilcouncillors, and that, since they would not allow him to trust himselfamong the people, the people must take the matter into their own hands.They had remained quiet long enough; now was the time that they shouldshow their strength. The rabble shouted loudly, 'Let us to London!Death to the council! Death to the rich!' and having gathered undertheir leaders, they started to march for Southwark. As there is nosaying what may come of the matter, methought that it were best tobring the young lady back again."
"I thank you," Dame Agatha said; "'tis indeed better that we should betogether. This morning my lord was saying that if these knaves marchedupon London, he had decided that we should move into the Tower."
"It were indeed best, madam. There is no saying what may happen whenthese fellows become inflamed with wine and begin to taste the sweetsof plunder. We ourselves feel ashamed that we are not in a position tomarch out with the city force, and to maintain the law against thisrabble; but it is clear to us that the majority are on the other side.They have taken into their heads that if these fellows gain rights andprivileges for themselves, the city may also gain fresh rights. Many ofthe serving-men, the craftsmen, and even the apprentices have friendsand relations among these people, for most of them belong to thecounties round London.
"There are others better placed who not only sympathize, as I myselfdo, with the natural desire of the country people to be free fromserfdom, but who favour the cause because they think that were all thepeople free to carry arms it would check the power both of the king andnobles. So it comes that the city is divided in itself; and in thisstrait, when all should show a front against rebellion, we arepowerless to do aught. Even among those who talk the loudest againstthe rabble, there are many, I fear, who send them secret encouragement,and this not because they care aught for their grievances, but becausethe people are set against the Flemings, who are ill-liked by many ofthe merchants as being rivals in trade, and who have in their hands thegreater portion of the dealings, both with Flanders and the LowCountry; and indeed, though I see that in the long run we shall benefitgreatly by this foreign trade, I quite perceive that the privilegesthat our king has given to the Flemings in order to win their good-willand assistance against France, do for the present cause disadvantageand harm to many of the traders of London."
"'Tis a troubled time," Dame Agatha said, "and 'tis hard to see what isfor the best. However, in the Tower assuredly we shall be safe."
"I hope so," the merchant said, gravely.
"Surely you cannot doubt it, Master Gaiton?" Dame Agatha said insurprise.
"I hear that the rabble are openly saying that the men-at-arms andarchers will not act against them. It maybe but empty boasting, butthere may be something in it. The men are almost all enlisted fromKent, Sussex, Essex, and Hertford, and I have heard report that thereis sore discontent among them because their pay is greatly in arrear,owing to the extravagance of the Court. It were well, perhaps, that youshould mention this to Sir Ralph, and, above all, I pray you toremember, madam, that so long as my house stands, so long will it be arefuge to which you and yours may betake yourselves in case of dangerhere. I say not that it is safer than elsewhere, for there is no sayingagainst whom the rage of the rabble may be directed."
Sir Ralph came home late in the afternoon. He was gloomy and depressed.
"Things are going but badly, wife," he said. "Verily, were it not forthe duty I owe to the king, we would take horse and ride to Kingston,and there cross the river and journey round so as to avoid thesefellows, and get to our home and wait there and see what comes of this,and should they attack us, fight to the end. It seems to me that allhave lost their heads--one gives one counsel, and one gives another.Never did I see such faint hearts. The lord mayor has been with theking. He speaks bravely as far as he himself and the better class ofcitizens are concerned, but they are overborne by the commonalty, whofavour the rabble partly because they hope to gain by the disorder, andpartly because the leaders of the rabble declare that they will slayall the council, and, above all, the Duke of Lancaster, against whommany in the city, as well as in the country, have a deep grudge."
"What counsel did you give, husband?"
"I asked the king to give me the command of half the men-at-arms andarchers, and that I would march them through the city across LondonBridge, close the gates there, and defend them alike against the rabbleon the farther side and that of the city until help could be gathered.The king himself was willing that this should be so, but the councilsaid that were I to do this, the gatherings from Essex, Hertford,Suffolk, and Cambridge would march hither and be joined by the rabbleof the city, and so attack the Tower, being all the more furious atwhat they would deem a breach of their privileges by my takingpossession of the gates; and so nothing was done. Have you looked outof the windows across the river? If not, do so."
Lady Agatha crossed the room and gazed out. From several points inSouthwark columns of smoke mingled with flames were ascending.
"What is it, Ralph?"
"It is the rabble, who are plundering Southwark, and, as I hear, havebroke open the prisons of the Marshalsea and King's Bench. Themalefactors there have joined them; and this has been done without astroke being smitten in defence. Where are the boys?"
"They went into the city with Aline this morning, and have notreturned. Ah! here they are coming through the gate."
"Well, Albert, what news have you?" Sir Ralph asked his son as theyentered.
"The city is in an uproar, father; most of the shops have closed. Thereare gatherings in the streets, and though the lord mayor and RobertGaiton and many of the better class have been haranguing them, theyrefuse to disperse to their homes. Robert Gaiton took us into theGuildhall, where many of the most worshipful citizens were assembled,discussing the matter and what is to be done, but they have no force attheir command. The Flemings are in great fear. Some have betakenthemselves to the churches, where they hope that their lives may berespected, but without, as it seems to me, any good warrant; for, asthe rabble at Canterbury did not respect even the cathedral, it is notlikely that they will hold churches here as sanctuary. Robert Gaitonadvised us that if we entered the city to-morrow we should not showourselves in our present apparel, for he says that if the rabble enter,they may fall foul of any whose dresses would show them to belong tothe Court, and he has given us two sober citizen suits, in which hesaid we should be able to move about without fear of molestation."
"Things have come to a nice pass, indeed," Sir Ralph grumbled, "whenthe son of a knight cannot walk with safety in the streets of London.Still, Gaiton is doubtless right."
"You will not let the boys enter the city surely, Sir Ralph?" DameAgatha said, anxiously.
"I do not say so, dame. The lads are going to be soldiers, and it werewell that they became used to scenes of tumult. Moreover, they maybring us news of what is doing there that may help us. I have obtainedthe use of a chamber in the Tower for you and Aline. My place, ofcourse, will be by the king's side; and maybe the reports that the boyswill bring us of the doings in the city may be useful. Is it your wish,lads, to go into the city?"
"With your permission, sir, we would gladly do so. There will be muchto see, and, it may be, to learn."
"That is so. Above all, take to heart the lesson that it is dangerousto grant aught to force; and that if the rabble be suffered to become,even for an hour, the masters, they wil
l soon become as wild beasts. Itwas so in France, and it will be so wherever, by the weakness of theauthorities, the mob is allowed to raise its head and to deem itselfmaster of everything. All this evil has been brought about by thecowardice of the garrison of Rochester Castle. Had they done their dutythey could have defended the place for weeks against those knaves, evenif not strong enough to have sallied out and defeated them in the open,but the fellows seem to have inspired everyone with terror; and infaith, whatever befalls, it will be mainly the fault of those whoshould at the first outbreak have gathered themselves together to makea stand against this unarmed rabble, for it might at that time havebeen crushed by a single charge.
"I take blame to myself now, that instead of summoning you hither, Idid not hasten home as soon as I heard of the doings at Dartford,gather a score of my neighbours with their retainers, and give battleto the mob. There were comparatively few at that time, and they had notgained confidence in themselves. And even if we had deemed them toostrong to attack in the field, we might have thrown ourselves intoRochester and aided the garrison to hold the castle. I have seentroubles in Flanders, and have learnt how formidable the mob may becomewhen it has once tasted blood; and it is well that you should bothlearn that, even when the commonalty have just grounds for complaint,they must not be allowed to threaten the security of the realm by armedrebellion.
"Would that the Black Prince were here instead of the Boy King, weshould then have very different measures taken. Even if the king'smother had spirit and courage, the counsels of those men who surroundthe king would be overborne; but she was so alarmed, as she well mightbe, at her meeting with the rabble on Blackheath, that the spirit sheonce had seems to have quite departed, and she is all in favour ofgranting them what they will."
Later on Sir Ralph again went to the Tower and shortly returned. "Puton your cloaks and hoods at once," he said to his wife. "The Essex andHertford men have arrived on the north side of the city and may be herein the morning, and it will be then too late to retire to the Tower. Iwill give you a quarter of an hour to pack up your belongings. The menwill carry them for you. As to you, boys, you can safely remain hereuntil daybreak, then put on your citizen dresses and make your wayquietly into the city, as soon as the gates are open. Put them overyour own clothes. I charge you to take no part in any street fray; butif the better class of citizens make a stand, throw off your citizenclothes and join them and strike for the king and country, forassuredly England would be ruined were the rabble to have their way."
In a quarter of an hour the ladies were ready; and their Court suitsand those of Albert and Edgar had been packed. The men-at-arms took upthe valises, and, followed by them, Sir Ralph, his wife, and daughtermade for the Tower.
In the morning as soon as they knew that the gates would be open thetwo boys attired themselves in the citizen suits, and, buckling ontheir swords, left the house. As soon as they entered the city theyfound that the streets were already filled with people. It was CorpusChristi, at that time kept as a general holiday, and, regardless of thetroubles, many were flocking out to enjoy a holiday in the country. Theboys had debated whether they should first go to the merchant's, butthey agreed not to do so, as he would probably be in consultation withthe authorities, and would be fully occupied without having them toattend to.
As they advanced farther it was easy to see that there was anotherelement besides that of the holiday-makers abroad. Bands of mencarrying heavy staves, and many of them with swords at their belts,were hurrying in the direction of the bridge, and Edgar and Albert tookthe same direction. The bridge itself was crowded, partly withholiday-makers and partly with armed men, while the windows of thehouses were occupied by spectators, who were looking down with evidentapprehension at what was about to take place. Gradually making theirway forward the two friends reached the other end. Here there was agroup of citizens on horseback. Among them was the lord mayor, WilliamWalworth, and many of the aldermen, Robert Gaiton among them. The mobwere shouting, "Open the gates!" The uproar was great, but on the mayorholding up his hand there was silence.
"Fellow-citizens," he said, "know ye not what has been done by thesemen at Southwark? Not content with plundering and ill-treating theinhabitants, breaking open the cellars and besotting themselves withliquor, they have opened the doors of the prisons, and have been joinedby the malefactors held there. Assuredly if they enter the city theywill behave in like manner here; therefore the gates cannot be opened."
A man stepped forward from the mob and replied:
"It has always been the custom for the gates to be opened, and for thecitizens to go out to the fields to enjoy themselves on a holiday, andwe will have it so now whether you like it or not."
Then the uproar was renewed, swords and staves were raised menacingly,and cries raised of "Death to the lord mayor!" "Death to all who wouldinterfere with our liberties!" The mayor took counsel with those aroundhim. It was manifestly impossible that some twenty or thirty men couldsuccessfully oppose an infuriated mob, and it was certain that theywould all lose their lives were they to do so, and that without avail.Accordingly the mayor again held up his hand for silence, and said:
"We cannot oppose your will, seeing that you are many and that we arefew; therefore, if you wish it, we must open the gates, but many of youwill regret ere many days have passed the part that you have taken inthis matter."
So saying, he and those with him drew aside. With a shout of triumphthe mob rushed to the gates, removed the bars and opened them, and thenpoured out, shouting and cheering, into Southwark.
While the dispute had been going on the two friends had quietly madetheir way almost to the front line.
"What had we best do, Edgar?"
"We had best keep quiet," the latter said; "this is but a street broil,against which your father charged us to take no part. It would not be afight, but a massacre. Had these gentlemen been in armour, they mighthave sold their lives dearly, and perchance have fought their waythrough, but seeing that they have but on their civic gowns they canmake no effectual resistance."
As soon as the gates were open they stood back in a doorway until thefirst rush of the crowd had ceased; then they followed the horsemenacross the bridge again, and took their stand at the end of GracechurchStreet to see what would follow. In a short time they saw theholiday-makers come pouring back over the bridge in evident terror, andclose on their heels were a great mob. At their head, on horseback,rode Wat Tyler and three or four other leaders. Behind them followed adisorderly crowd, brandishing their weapons. Many of these were drunk,their clothes being stained deeply by the wine from the casks they hadbroached. Among them were many of the men who had been released fromprison.
As they poured over the bridge, some broke off from the column andbegan to harangue the citizens, saying that these had as much tocomplain of as they had, seeing how they were taxed for theextravagancies of the Court and the expense of foreign wars, and thatnow was the time for all honest men to rise against their oppressors.Many of the lower class joined their ranks. None ventured to enter intodispute with them. Some of the mob were dressed in ecclesiastical robeswhich they had taken from the churches. These as they went shoutedblasphemous parodies on the mass. The leaders evidently had a fixedpurpose in their minds, for upon reaching Cheapside they turned west.
"It is sad to think that these fellows should disgrace the cause forwhich they took up arms," Edgar said to his companion. "They hadgrounds for complaint when they first rose. I then felt some sympathyfor them, but now they are intoxicated with their success. Look at Watthe Tyler. I believed he was an honest workman, and, as all said, aclever one. I do not blame him that in his wrath he slew the man whohad insulted his daughter; but look at him now--he rides as if he werea king. He is puffed up with his own importance, and looks round uponthe citizens as if he were their lord and master. He has stolen somearmour on his way, and deems that he cuts a knightly figure. Let us goby the quiet streets and see what is their object."
The whole of
the rioters moved down Cheapside by St. Paul's, and thento the Temple. So far they offered no wrong to anyone. They sallied outthrough the gates and continued on their way until they reached theSavoy, the splendid palace of the Duke of Lancaster, which was said tobe the fairest and most richly furnished of any in the kingdom. Withshouts of triumph they broke into it and scattered through the rooms,smashing the furniture and destroying everything they could lay handsupon. Some made for the cellars, where they speedily intoxicatedthemselves. Loud shouts were raised that nothing was to be taken. Thesilver vessels and jewels were smashed, and then carried down to theThames and thrown into it.
In a short time flames burst out in several parts of the palace. Oneman was noticed by another as he thrust a silver cup into his dress. Hewas at once denounced and seized, and was without further ado hurledinto the flames.
The fire spread rapidly. The crowd surrounded the palace, shouting,yelling, and dancing in their triumph over the destruction that theyhad wrought. Upwards of thirty of the drunkards were unable to escape,and were imprisoned in the cellars. Their shouts for help were heardfor seven days, but none came to their assistance, for the ruins of thehouse had fallen over them, and they all perished. Thence the crowdwent to the Temple, where they burnt all the houses occupied bylawyers, with all their books and documents, and then proceeded to thehouse of the Knights of St. John, a splendid building but latelyerected. This also they fired, and so great was its extent that itburned for seven days.
The next morning twenty thousand of them marched to Highbury, the greatmanor-house of which belonged to the Order of St. John, and this andthe buildings around it were all destroyed by fire.
After seeing the destruction of the Temple, Edgar and Albert went backto Cheapside. The streets were almost deserted. The better class ofcitizens had all shut themselves up in their houses and every door wasclosed. On knocking at the door of the mercer the two friends wereadmitted. The alderman had just returned from a gathering of the cityauthorities. They told him what they had witnessed.
"It passes all bounds," he said, "and yet there is naught that we cando to put a stop to it. For myself I have counselled that proclamationshall be made that all honest citizens shall gather, with arms in theirhands, at the Guildhall, and that we should beg the king to give ussome assistance in men-at-arms and archers, and that we should thengive battle to the rabble. But I found few of my opinion. All werethinking of the safety of their families and goods, and said that werewe defeated, as we well might be, seeing how great are their numbers,they would pillage and slay as they chose. Whereas, if we give them nopretence for molesting us, it might be that they would do no harm toprivate persons, but would content themselves with carrying out theiroriginal designs of obtaining a charter from the king.
"In faith it is cowardly counsel, and yet, as with the forces from thenorth and south there must be fully two hundred thousand rebels, I ownthat there is some reason in such advice. If the king with his knightsand nobles and his garrison at the Tower would but sally out and set usan example, be sure that he would be joined by the law-abidingcitizens, but as he doeth naught in this strait, I see not thatpeaceful citizens are called upon to take the whole brunt of it upontheir own shoulders. However, I have little hope that the rioters willcontent themselves with destroying palaces and attacking lawyers. Whatyou tell me of the execution of one of their number, who stole a silvercup, shows that the bulk of them are at present really desirous only ofredress of grievances, but they will soon pass beyond this. Thejail-birds will set an example of plunder and murder, and unless helpcomes before long, all London will be sacked. My men and apprenticesare already engaged in carrying down to the cellars all my richestwares. The approach is by a trap-door, with a great stone over it inthe yard, and it will, I hope, escape their search.
"Of one thing you may be sure, that as soon as the king shows himself,and it is seen that he is in danger, there will be no hanging back, butwe shall join him with what force we can. I think not that he can haveaid from without, for we hear that the country people have everywhererisen, and that from Winchester in the south, to Scarborough in thenorth, they have taken up arms, and that the nobles are everywhere shutup in their castles, so they, being cut off from each other, are in noposition to gather a force that could bring aid to the king. You cantell your good father what I say, and that all depends upon theattitude of the king. If he comes to us with his knights and men wewill join him; if he comes not, and we learn that he is in danger, wewill do what we can, but that must depend much upon how the rebelscomport themselves."
The two lads went to the Tower, but the gates were closed and thedrawbridge pulled up, and they therefore returned to their lodging,where they passed the night. On the following day they returned intothe city; there the rioters had already began their work. ThirtyFlemings, who had taken refuge in the churches, were dragged from thealtar and were beheaded, thirty-two others were seized in the vintryand also slain. Then parties broke into all the houses where theFlemings lived, and such as had not fled in disguise were killed, andtheir houses pillaged. All through the day the streets were in anuproar. Every man the rebels met was seized and questioned.
"Who are you for?" Such as answered "The king and commons" were allowedto go unmolested, others were killed. The two friends had severalnarrow escapes. Fortunately Edgar had learned the watchword at Dartfordand readily replied, and they were allowed to pass on. They weretraversing Bread Street when they heard a scream behind them, and agirl came flying along, pursued by a large number of the rioters,headed by a man in the dress of a clerk. She reached the door of ahandsome house close to them, but before she could open it the leaderof the party ran up and roughly seized her. Edgar struck him a buffeton the face which sent him reeling backwards.
With shouts of fury the crowd rushed up just as the door opened. Edgarand Albert stepped back into the doorway, while the girl ran upstairs.
"How, now, my masters," Edgar said as he drew his sword, "is this theway to secure your rights and liberties, by attacking women in thestreets? Shame on you! Do you call yourselves Englishmen?"
"They are Flemings!" the man whom Edgar had struck shouted out.
"Well, sir, I should say that you were a Fleming yourself, by yourspeech," Edgar said.
"I am but a clerk," the man said. "He who lives here is one of theFlemings who bought the taxes, and has been grinding down the people,of whom I am one."
"The people must be badly off, indeed," Edgar said, contemptuously, "ifthey need to have such a cur as you on their side."
But his words were drowned by the furious shouts of the crowd, "Deathto the Flemings!" and a rush was made at the door, headed by the clerk,who struck savagely at Edgar. The latter parried the stroke, and thrustthe man through the throat. With a yell of rage the crowd now strovefuriously to enter, but the position of the two lads standing back acouple of feet from the entrance rendered it impossible for more thantwo or three to attack them at once, and the clubs and rough weaponswere no match for the swords. Nevertheless, although five or six oftheir opponents fell, the weight of numbers pressed the friends back tothe staircase, where they again made a stand.
For five minutes the conflict raged. The boys had both received severalblows, for the weight of the heavy weapons sometimes beat down theirguard; but they still fought on, retiring a step or two up the stairwhen hardly pressed, and occasionally making dashes down upon theirassailants, slaying the foremost, and hurling the others backwards.Presently the girl ran down again to them.
"All are in safety," she said. "Run upstairs when you can. Where yousee me standing at a door run in and lock it on the inside."
"One more rush, Albert, and then upstairs."
With a shout Edgar threw himself upon a man who had raised a heavypole-axe, and cut the fellow down. Then, as the man fell, Edgar flunghimself on him, and hurled him against those behind, while Albert atthe same moment ran an opponent through the body. Then, turning, theysprang up the stairs. On the landing above the g
irl was standing at anopen door. They ran in and closed it, and then piled articles offurniture against it.
"There is no occasion for that," she said; "this way."
The room was heavily panelled, and one of the panels was standing open.They followed her into this.
"Push it back," she said; "it is too heavy for me." The panel wasindeed of great weight, the wood being backed with brick, the whole ranon rollers, but Edgar had no difficulty in closing it.
"Thank God, and you, gentlemen, that we are in safety. The keenest eyecould not see that the panel opens, and, being backed with brick, itgives no hollow sound when struck. They will search in vain for it."
Taking a lamp from the ground, she led the way down a narrow flight ofstairs. By the depth to which they descended Edgar judged when theyreached the bottom that they must be below the level of the cellars.She opened a door, and entered an apartment some twenty feet square. Itwas lighted by four candles standing on a table. In one corner a womanlay on a pallet; two women servants, sobbing with terror andexcitement, stood beside her, while a tall, elderly man rose to meetthem.
"Gentlemen," he said, "I don't know how to thank you. You must think itcowardly that I did not descend to share your peril; but it wasnecessary that I should go to the storey above that you reached tobring down my wife, who, as you see, is grievously sick. Her two maidswere very nearly distraught with terror, and, if left to themselves,would never have carried their mistress below. Having had someexperience of popular tumults in Bruges, my native town, I had thishiding-place constructed when I first came here twenty years ago. Now,to whom am I indebted for our safety?"
Edgar introduced his companion and himself.
"Then you are not, as would seem by your attire, merchants like myself?"
"No, sir. We but put on this attire over our own in order to be able totraverse the streets without interruption. May I ask how it is thatyour daughter was alone and unattended in the streets?"
"She was not unattended. She had with her my servant, a Flemish lad,who has but recently come over. He speaks no English, and not knowingthe tongue, could not be sent out alone. My wife was taken worse thismorning, and the leech not having sent the medicine he promised, mydaughter, thinking that there could be no danger to a young girl, wentto get it, and as the servant was dressed in English fashion, and wouldnot be called upon to speak, I thought that she could pass unnoticeddid they fall in with any party of the rioters."
"So we should have done, father," the girl said, "had we not met a bandheaded by Nicholas Bierstadt."
"The villain!" the merchant exclaimed. "So it was he who led the partyhere. When these troubles are over I will see that he obtains hisdeserts."
"He has obtained them already, sir," Edgar said, "for I slew the knaveat the first thrust."
"He was my clerk, the son of a man of some influence at Bruges. He waswell recommended to me, and came over here to learn the business andthe language, with the intention of going into trade for himself. Itwas not long before I came to dislike his ways, and when, a fortnightsince, he asked me for the hand of my daughter, I repulsed him, tellinghim that in the first place, she was too young to think of marriage,and that, in the second, I liked him not, and would never give myconsent to her having him, and lastly, that she liked him as little asI did. He answered insolently, and I then expelled him from the house,when he threatened me that I should erelong regret my conduct. I gavethe fellow no further thought, and did not know where he bestowedhimself. Doubtless he was waiting to see whether this rabble wouldreach London and what would come of it, and when they entered doubtlesshe endeavoured to gratify his hatred by leading some of them hither.And now, Joanna, tell me what befell you."
"We went safely to the leech's, father, and I got the medicine fromhim. He made many apologies, but said that he had heard so much of thedoings of the rioters that he thought it best to stay indoors, and ofcourse he had not heard that mother was taken worse. We had comehalf-way back when we fell in with a party of the rioters. Methinksthey would have said naught, but Bierstadt, whom I had not noticed,suddenly grasped me by the arm, saying, 'This is the daughter of theFleming to whose house I am taking you, one of the chief oppressors ofthe poor.' Johann struck him in the face, and as he loosened his holdof me I darted away. Looking back, I saw Johann on the ground, and themob round him were hacking at him with their weapons. This gave me astart, and I ran, but just as I reached the door Bierstadt overtook andseized me; then this gentleman, who was passing, struck him a stoutbuffet in the face, and without waiting to see more I hastened to giveyou the alarm."
"Providence surely sent you to the spot, gentlemen," the Fleming said;"here we are absolutely safe. During the last two days I have broughtdown a provision of food, wine, and water sufficient to last us for amonth, and long before that methinks this rascaldom will have beensuppressed."
"There is no doubt of that, sir; my only fear is that when they cannotdiscover where you are concealed, they will fire the house."
"Against that I have provided," the Fleming said. He opened the door."See you that stone slab, above a foot in thickness; it looks solid,but it is not. It is worked by a counterpoise, and when it is lowered,"and touching a spring, it began to descend, thus closing the stairway,"not only would it baffle them did they find the entrance above, but itwould prevent any fire reaching here. The staircase is of stone, andabove us is a strongly arched cellar, which would resist were the wholehouse to fall upon it."