Mr. John FitzHerbert while in London had heard of his skill, and
had taken means to get at the young man, for his own house at Padley.
* * * * *
Owen was already at work when the party came upstairs. He had supped
alone, and, with a servant to guide him, had made the round of the
house, taking measurements in every possible place. He was seated on the
floor as they came in; three or four panels lay on the ground beside
him, and a heap of plaster and stones.
He looked up as they came in.
"This will take me all night, sir," he said. "And the fire must be put
out below."
He explained his plan. The old hiding-place was but a poor affair; it
consisted of a space large enough for only one man, and was contrived by
a section of the wall having been removed, all but the outer row of
stones made thin for the purpose; the entrance to it was through a tall
sliding panel on the inside of the chapel. Its extreme weakness as a
hiding-hole lay in the fact that anyone striking on the panel could not
fail to hear how hollow it rang. This he proposed to do away with,
unless, indeed, he left a small space for the altar vessels; and to
construct instead a little chamber in the chimney of the hall that was
built against this wall; he would contrive it so that an entrance was
still from the chapel, as well as one that he would make over the hearth
below; and that the smoke should be conducted round the little enclosed
space, passing afterwards up the usual vent.
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