



Produced by Chris Curnow, Katherine Becker, Lindy Walsh
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
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GUNPOWDER TREASON AND PLOT.






[Illustration: A MAGNIFICENT RACE. _Page 18._]




    GUNPOWDER TREASON
    AND PLOT

    And Other Stories for Boys

    BY

    HAROLD AVERY, FRED WHISHAW,
    AND
    R. B. TOWNSHEND

    _WITH FOURTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS_

    THOMAS NELSON AND SONS

    _London, Edinburgh, and New York_

    1901







CONTENTS.


  WHEN FRIENDS FALL OUT,                  9

  TWO HEROES,                            42

  LOST IN THE SOUDAN,                    76

  THE WOLFMAN,                          106

  IN HONOUR BOUND,                      130

  "GUNPOWDER, TREASON, AND PLOT,"       145

  THE COCK-HOUSE CUP,                   169





GUNPOWDER TREASON AND PLOT.




WHEN FRIENDS FALL OUT.


Old Dan Mudge, fisherman, of Brixham, Devon, saw a curious sight one
afternoon as he walked along the shore between his own village and
another of the name of Churston, in order to see whether the gale of the
preceding night had disturbed his lobster-pots, laid in a symmetrical
line just clear of the rocks that lie to the north of Broad Sands, one
of the many lovely coves in Tor Bay.

A curiously-shaped object floated and bobbed in the still lively sea,
fifty yards from shore, and from the midst of the object there seemed to
rise--yes, he was sure of it--a child's cry.

"I must wade in and see to that matter," thought old Dan. "It isn't deep
where she's floating now."

"She" consisted, as he plainly saw when he had approached a little
nearer, of a most elaborately-made floating nest. Two lifebuoys, held
apart by thick wire zigzags, floated one above the other; and slung upon
the uppermost, hanging between it and the other, was a basket, lined
within and without with thickest oilskin. In the basket, lying securely
fastened among cushions and blankets, were two splendid little boys, one
of whom slept soundly; the other yelled loudly. From their likeness to
each other, it was plain that they were brothers.

Old Dan Mudge was astonished beyond words--so astonished that he omitted
to save the lifebuoys with their ingenious appendage, but simply took
the two children out and carried them ashore, leaving their peculiar
raft to itself and to the mercy of the waves.

"Good Lord, deliver us all!" he exclaimed. "What a splendid pair of
babies! And what in the name of good gracious am I going to do with
them?"

As a preliminary to finding an answer to this question, Dan took the
children to Brixham, and showed them to his wife and to a select company
of neighbours, who had come in to hear the news, having seen Dan walk
through the streets with two babies on his two arms.

"You'll have to advertise 'em," suggested some one. But Dan demurred.

"Can't afford that kind of thing," he said.

"Oh, but we must! Hat round for subscriptions," exclaimed some one, "to
find the owner of these babes!"

The hat went round, and sufficient was soon collected to pay for several
insertions of an advertisement in a London paper of the day; but nothing
was ever heard of any claimant to the privilege of proprietorship of the
two little waifs, and it was concluded that they were sole survivors of
a fine passenger sailing-ship bound for Plymouth, which was known to
have gone down, with all hands, during a gale in the Channel, about the
time of their discovery.

Meanwhile old Dan Mudge was at his wits' end to know what to do with the
bairns. His wife was too old and sickly to care to have the charge of
small children, though she adored the pair of babes as much as any of
the good folk who came to weep over and kiss and admire them during
their stay of a few days under her roof.

[Illustration: "_Dan Mudge was at his wits' end to know what to do with
the bairns._" Page 13.]

The children were of gentle birth, too; that was evident from the
quality of their clothes,