All the other
articles, too, were of silver: the lavabo basin, the bell, the thurible,
the boat and spoon, and the cruets. It was a joy to all the Catholics who
came to see the worship of God carried on with such splendour, when in so
many places even necessaries were scarcely forthcoming.
There was a little hiding-hole between the chapel and the priest's room,
just of a size to hold the altar furniture and the priests in case of a
sudden alarm; and there were several others in the house too, which Mr.
Buxton had showed to Anthony with a good deal of satisfaction, on the
morning after his arrival.
"I dared not show them to you the last time you were here," he said, "and
there was no need; but now there must be no delay. I have lately made
some more, too. Now here is one," he said, stopping before the great
carved mantelpiece in the hall.
He looked round to see that no servant was in the room, and then,
standing on a settee before the fire, touched something above, and a
circular hole large enough for a man to clamber through appeared in the
midst of the tracery.
"There," he said, "and you will find some cured ham and a candle, with a
few dates within, should you ever have need to step up there--which, pray
God, you may not."
"What is the secret?" asked Anthony, as the tracery swung back into
place, and his host stepped down.
"Pull the third roebuck's ears in the coat of arms, or rather push them.
It closes with a spring, and is provided with a bolt.
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