Page:A history of the gunpowder plot-The conspiracy and its agents (1904).djvu/170

146 sounded every corner in that great house till they were all weary, and found no likelihood of discovering that they came for, though they continued the daily search, and that with double diligence all the week following. But upon Saturday, two laymen that did usual attend upon the two priests, and were hid in a place by themselves, being almost starved to death, came out of their own accord.' But Gerard is not, as is often the case, strictly accurate here, for the 'two laymen,' Brothers Owen and Chambers, came out of their hole on Thursday morning, January 23. Had they succeeded in fighting their cold, hunger, and confinement a little longer by remaining huddled up in their 'hole,' it is possible that the lives of all four might have been saved, for Bromley was getting very tired of his search, which he was quite willing to abandon, at any rate for a time, if not altogether.

Father Gerard goes on to make the absurdly unwise statement that Owen and Chambers only gave themselves up because they thought the searchers might take them for priests, and, being satisfied with their capture, then leave the house, and thus enable Garnet and Oldcorne to escape. The very opposite of this was, of course, the case. The appearance of the lay-brothers only induced Bromley to continue the search; for if, he argued,