"Nay," said the Dean quietly. "You came to the Senate House and lodged your information in such confident terms that Master Byrckmann was printing off this Bible for Tyndale, that we granted you the opportunity for the search. You cannot blame the printer because his hands are clean in this matter."
Cochlaeus scowled and walked away, while Margaret, still wondering how it came about that the cellar was clear, followed him through the shop, and gazed after him through the window when he stalked along in anger down the silent street.
CHAPTER IX
THE MAN BY THE RIVER
There was the sound of footsteps behind her, and, turning quickly, Margaret saw her father walking to the door, where he drove the bolt into the socket.
"What does it all mean?" she asked eagerly, looking at him across the counter. "Father, my heart was almost bursting with anxiety; for when I saw those men searching the workshop, and Cochlaeus asked for the floor to be raised, there was no way out of the dreadful pass that I could see. I thought to see them go into the cellar and find the printing-press and those printed sheets. It was almost more than I could bear!"
She sank on the stool and buried her face in her hands, shuddering, and thus she stayed until her father bent over the counter to her, and gently stroked her hair.
"It was thoughtless of me, my dear," he said soothingly; "and I ought to have told you what I did. Gropper and I pulled the press to pieces and placed it in the storeroom. Then we spent another long night in covering William Tyndale's sheets with strong wrappers for a long journey, and they were taken in a waggon to a ship which is lying at the quay. There they are, stowed away in safety, where even Cochlaeus would scarcely find them."
"Then I saw them," she cried.
"They went this morning," the printer said light-heartedly; and for awhile, as the shadows fell and twilight gave place to darkness, save for the light which came in through the window from the lantern in the street, they talked of this danger which had threatened them.