"I will go down," said he, "and thou mayst safely follow; the stuff be well housed, tight as a drum, and, as thou seest, the lantern scattereth no fire."
"But will not the dampness of the place destroy its usefulness?" asked Winter.
"There is little fear," replied Fawkes, "although it lieth below the surface of the river; the cellar is hewn from the rock, and dry as a tinder-box. Lead the way, good Robert, take heed with thy light."
With much cautiousness the two men followed Fawkes and his guide down the ladder to the floor ten feet below. Reaching it, Keyes held up the lantern so that its feeble rays penetrated the darkness. Piled against the walls of the subterranean chamber, Winter and Percy discerned irregular dark objects rising to the height of their heads.
"'Tis the wind which will free England of the pestilence," said Fawkes grimly; then catching the quick glance of Winter, which reminded him of the presence of Master Keyes, added: "Which sown in Flanders will bring forth a whirlwind against those who serve not God after the manner of the righteous."
"A goodly amount of the grains," said Percy, placing his foot again upon a round of the ladder; "and how much saidst thou, good Master Keyes?"
"As Fawkes hath told me, some six and thirty barrels," replied the watchman; "enough, methinks, to send all London up to the stars."
"And the King, also," whispered Winter in Fawkes' ear, and added, "let us to the room above. My stomach hath small liking for thy cellars."
Percy was already half way up the ladder, and the others quickly followed. To the soldier of fortune and to Master Keyes, 'twas of little moment that they had stood in the presence of such an engine of destruction, which, if properly applied, would shake to its foundation the strongest structure in Europe. But in Winter and Percy, especially the latter, the presence of the gunpowder, thoughts of the purpose for which it was to be used, and the lives which must be sacrificed, overcame for the moment their fanatical zeal, and they withdrew with a feeling akin to horror. 'Twas truly the seed of death; and in sowing the wind might they not, themselves, reap the whirlwind?
A short time in the upper chamber restored their calmness, and they no longer seemed such fearful things, those grim barrels of harmless looking black grains, which might lie harmless for centuries, as they had seen them, or, at the touch of a single tiny spark, shake London as by an earthquake, vacate a royal throne, and exterminate in an instant the proudest government in Europe. Percy, of more gentle disposition than his companion, gazed into the face of Guido Fawkes with a feeling akin to awe. His was the brain which had suggested this terrific method for the destruction of the King and Parliament; his the voice that had pronounced the words which laid bare the plan to Catesby, Winter and the others. If Fawkes had never come from Spain, perhaps——, but the subject of his gloomy thoughts was speaking in reply to a question put by Sir Thomas.