Directly the trap closed behind him, Walter--sure that some minutes would
pass before the method of his escape was known--tore the blankets he had
brought with him into wide strips, tied the ends together, and twisted
them up into the form of a rope; then, coiling this over his arm, he made
his way along the roofs. The street below was now a mass of people. The
report that a Popish plot had been discovered, and that a number of
important arrests had been made, spread quickly, as the soldiers were
seen gathered round the house. The news was sufficient to stir up party
feelings, and the mob which collected soon set up the shout which had, of
late, been so often raised in the streets of Dublin--"Down with the
Papists!"
Soon the crashing of glass was heard, as stones were hurled at the
dwellings of known Catholics. Walter, anxious for the safety of Larry,
who was, he knew, somewhere without, tried to look down into the street
to see what was going on, believing that in the darkness he could not be
seen. The flash of a musket, and the whistle of a ball close to him,
showed him that his figure had been seen against the skyline.
Drawing back, he paused a moment in thought. The trapdoor would be
discovered at once, and a search on the roof commenced, and the soldiers
would be placed behind the houses.
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