CHAPTER VI.
GUNPOWDER PLOT.
The news caused a profound sensation, the like of which had probably never been witnessed at The Birches before--no, not even on that memorable occasion when the intelligence arrived that Scourer, one of the past seniors, had ridden his bicycle through the plate-glass window of Brown's big crockery-shop, and was being brought home on a shutter.
All the boys threw down their books, and started to their feet.
Acton and Vance banished from their minds all thought of the disagreement which had lately estranged them from their unfortunate school-fellow, and joined heartily in the general outburst of wrath and consternation.
The thought that Diggory, their well-beloved, was at that very moment languishing, a prisoner of war, in the hands of the Philistines was almost unbearable.
"What will they do with him ?"--"Where have they put him ?"--"How can we rescue the fellow ?" were questions which everybody was asking, but no one could answer.

It seemed altogether beyond their power to do anything, and yet there was not a boy who would not have given his dearest possession, were it a white rat or a stamp collection, if by parting with it he could have rendered some assistance to his ill-fated comrade.
"There's only half an hour before tea," said Vance, looking up at the clock; "if anything can be done, we must do it at once." The precious moments sped away, but in vain did the assembly rack their brains for some plan of action which might in any way be likely to serve the purpose they had in view.

The first wild suggestion, that they should go in a body and carry Horace House by storm, was abandoned as impracticable; in hopeless inactivity they stood watching the long hand of the clock creep up from six till twelve.
The first tea-bell had just finished ringing, when there was a sound of footsteps hurrying along the passage, the door burst open, and in rushed no other person than Diggory himself! "Hullo! how did you get away ?"--"What have they been doing ?"--"How did you escape ?" "Oh, such a lark!" cried the boy.

"They'll wish they'd never caught me! I'll tell you all about it after tea." As soon as the meal was over, Diggory was seized, hurried up into the schoolroom, and there forced to relate his adventures.
"Well," he began, "they collared me, and dragged me through the gates and along into their playground.

Noaks looked at me and said, 'Hullo, here's luck! This is the young beggar who tied that rope to the scrapers; I vote we give him a jolly good licking.' I told them that my father was a lawyer, and if any of them touched me he'd take a summons out against them for assault.