Fawkes_, and countless other novels of the same type, without
the convenient contrivances of which the _dramatis personæ_
make such effectual use?

Apart, however, from the importance of the secret chamber in
fiction, it is closely associated with many an important historical
event. The stories of the Gunpowder Plot, Charles II.'s escape
from Worcester, the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745, and many
another stirring episode in the annals of our country, speak
of the service it rendered to fugitives in the last extremity
of danger. When we inspect the actual walls of these confined
spaces that saved the lives of our ancestors, how vividly we can
realise the hardships they must have endured; and in wondering
at the mingled ingenuity and simplicity of construction, there
is also a certain amount of comfort to be derived from drawing
a comparison between those troublous and our own more peaceful
times.




SECRET CHAMBERS AND HIDING-PLACES


CHAPTER I

A GREAT DEVISER OF "PRIEST'S HOLES"


During the deadly feuds which existed in the Middle Ages, when