There is, indeed, a story, which would lead to the belief, that Fawkes
was to have been sacrificed by his brethren in crime. I give the story,
as it is recorded in the histories of the period, without pledging
myself to its truth. At Tickmarsh, in Northamptonshire, resided a Mr.
Pickering, who had a horse remarkable for its speed; Keys, one of the
conspirators, is said to have borrowed this horse, shortly before the
period fixed for the opening of the session. Fawkes, after having fired
the train, was to proceed to St. George's Fields, where he would find
the horse in question, on which he was to make his escape. This was the
impression on Fawkes's own mind. It was further arranged, that Mr.
Pickering, who was a well known puritan, should that morning be murdered
in his bed, and secretly conveyed away; and that Fawkes also should be
murdered in St. George's Fields, and so mangled, as not to be recognized
by any one. A report was then to be circulated, that the puritans had
perpetrated the atrocious deed; and to give some colour to this report,
the conspirators were to appeal to the fact, that Mr. Pickering, with
his swift horse, was there ready to escape; but that some persons who
saw him, in detestation of so horrible a deed, had killed him on the
spot, and hewed his body to pieces. Thus the mangled body of Fawkes was
to be taken for that of Mr. Pickering, it being supposed that no one
would doubt the fact, from the circumstance of the horse being found
near the spot. It is added, that Fawkes, when he was convinced that it
was the intention of his companions to put him to death, confessed the
whole plot, which he would not have done, but for this treachery on the
part of his fellow-conspirators. Such is the story, but I cannot vouch
for its truth[15].

[Footnote 15: In a work published shortly after the discovery, I
find it positively stated, that Tresham was the writer of the
letter to Monteagle. This merely shows what was the general
belief at the time. See _The Picture of a Papist_. 4to. p. 124.
1606.]

The fact, that the vaults and cellars under the House of Lords were then
let out to hire for such purposes, furnishes a singular view of the
manners of the age when contrasted with those of our own times. It
appears that the inferior officers of the House made the most of their
privileges. At this stage of the discovery, the king and his ministers
were ignorant of the mine, which had been car