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diff --git a/old/13840-h.zip b/old/13840-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..47c582d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13840-h.zip diff --git a/old/13840-h/13840-h.htm b/old/13840-h/13840-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..52cd193 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13840-h/13840-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8420 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Sign Of The Red Cross, by Evelyn Everett-Green</title> +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + body {background:#ffffff; + color:black; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + font-size:14pt; + margin-top:100px; + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align:justify} + h1 {text-align: center } + h1.title {white-space: pre} + h1.subtitle {white-space: pre} + h2 {text-align: center } + h2.byline {white-space: pre} + h3 {text-align: center } + hr { width: 100%; height: 5px; } + pre.toc {margin-left: 15%; font-size: 14pt} + pre.verse {text-align: center; font-size: 9pt;} + p {text-indent: 4% } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 8pt;} +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Sign Of The Red Cross, by Evelyn +Everett-Green</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Sign Of The Red Cross</p> +<p>Author: Evelyn Everett-Green</p> +<p>Release Date: October 23, 2004 [eBook #13840]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIGN OF THE RED CROSS***</p> +<h3><br /><br />E-text prepared by Martin Robb<br /><br /></h3> +<hr /> +<p> </p> +<h1 class="title">THE SIGN OF THE RED CROSS:</h1> +<h2 class="subtitle">A Tale of Old London</h2> +<h2 class="byline">by<br /> +Evelyn Everett-Green.</h2> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<pre class="toc"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a> A WARNING WHISPER. + <a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a> LONDON'S YOUNG CITIZENS. + <a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a> DRAWING NEARER. + <a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a> JAMES HARMER'S RESOLVE. + <a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a> THE PLOT AND ITS PUNISHMENT. + <a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a> NEIGHBOURS IN NEED. + <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a> SISTERS OF MERCY. + <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a> IN THE DOOMED CITY. + <a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a> JOSEPH'S PLAN. + <a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a> WITHOUT THE WALLS. + <a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a> LOVE IN DIFFICULTIES. + <a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a> EXCITING DISCOVERIES. + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a> HAPPY MEETINGS. + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a> BRIGHTER DAYS. + <a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a> A CHRISTMAS WEDDING. + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a> A FLAMING CITY. + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a> SCENES OF TERROR. +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a> WHAT BEFELL DINAH. + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a> JUST IN TIME. + <a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a> THE FLAMES STAYED. +</pre> +<p> </p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. A WARNING +WHISPER.</a></h2> +<p>"I don't believe a word of it!" cried the Master Builder, with +some heat of manner. "It is just an old scare, the like of which I +have heard a hundred times ere now. Some poor wretch dies of the +sweating sickness, or, at worst, of the spotted fever, and in a +moment all men's mouths are full of the plague! I don't believe a +word of it!"</p> +<p>"Heaven send you may be right, good friend," quoth Rachel +Harmer, as she sat beside her spinning wheel, and spoke to the +accompaniment of its pleasant hum. "And yet, methinks, the vice and +profligacy of this great city, and the lewdness and wanton +wickedness of the Court, are enough to draw down upon us the +judgments of Almighty God. The sin and the shame of it must be +rising up before Him day and night."</p> +<p>The Master Builder moved a little uneasily in his seat. For his +own part he thought no great harm of the roistering, gaming, and +gallantries of the Court dandies. He knew that the times were very +good for him. Fine ladies were for ever sending for him to alter +some house or some room. Gay young husbands, or those who thought +of becoming husbands, were seldom content nowadays without pulling +their house about their ears, and rebuilding it after some +new-fangled fashion copied from France. Or if the structure were +let alone, the plenishings must be totally changed; and Master +Charles Mason, albeit a builder by trade, and going generally +amongst his acquaintances and friends by the name of Master +Builder, had of late years taken to a number of kindred avocations +in the matter of house plenishings, and so forth. This had brought +him no small profit, as well as intimate relations with many a fine +household and with many grand folks. Money had flowed apace into +his pocket of late. His wife had begun to go about so fine that it +was well for her the old sumptuary laws had fallen into practical +disuse. His son was an idle young dog, chiefly known to the +neighbourhood as being the main leader of a notorious band of +Scourers, of which more anon, and many amongst his former friends +and associates shook their heads, and declared that Charles Mason +was growing so puffed up by wealth that he would scarce vouchsafe a +nod to an old acquaintance in the street, unless he were smart and +prosperous looking.</p> +<p>The Master Builder had a house upon Old London Bridge. Once he +had carried on his business there, but latterly he had grown too +fine for that. To the disgust of his more simple-minded neighbours, +he had taken some large premises in Cheapside, where he displayed +many fine stuffs for upholstering and drapery, where the +new-fashioned Indian carpets were displayed to view, and fine +gilded furniture from France, which a little later on became the +rage all through the country. His own house was now nothing more +than a dwelling place for himself and his family; even his +apprentices and workmen were lodged elsewhere. The neighbours, used +to simpler ways, shook their heads, and prophesied that the end of +so much pride would be disaster and ruin. But year after year went +by, and the Master Builder grew richer and richer, and could afford +to laugh at the prognostications of those about him, of which he +was very well aware.</p> +<p>He was perhaps somewhat puffed up by his success. He was +certainly proud of the position he had made. He liked to see his +wife sweep along the streets in her fine robes of Indian silk, +which seemed to set a great gulf between her and her neighbours. He +allowed his son to copy the fopperies of the Court gallants, and +even to pick up the silly French phrases which made the language at +Court a mongrel mixture of bad English and vile French. All these +things pleased him well, although he himself went about clad in +much the same fashion as his neighbours, save that the materials of +his clothing were finer, and his frills more white and crisp; and +it was in his favour that his friendship with his old friend James +Harmer had never waned, although he knew that this honest tradesman +by no means approved his methods.</p> +<p>Perhaps in his heart of hearts he preferred the comfortable +living room of his neighbour to the grandeur insisted upon by his +wife at home. At any rate, he found his way three or four evenings +in the week to Harmer's fireside, and exchanged with him the news +of the day, or retailed the current gossip of the city.</p> +<p>Harmer was by trade a gold and silver lace maker. He carried on +his business in the roomy bridge house which he occupied, which was +many stories high, and contained a great number of rooms. He housed +in it a large family, several apprentices, two shopmen, and his +wife's sister, Dinah Morse, at such times as the latter was not out +nursing the sick, which was her avocation in life.</p> +<p>Mason and Harmer had been boys together, had inherited these two +houses on the bridge from their respective fathers, and had both +prospered in the world. But Harmer was only a moderately affluent +man, having many sons and daughters to provide for; whereas Mason +had but one of each, and had more than one string to his bow in the +matter of money getting.</p> +<p>In the living room of Harmer's house were assembled that +February evening six persons. It was just growing dusk, but the +dancing firelight gave a pleasant illumination. Harmer and Mason +were seated on opposite sides of the hearth in straight-backed +wooden armchairs, and both were smoking. Rachel sat at her wheel, +with her sister Dinah near to her; and in the background hovered +two fine-looking young men, the two eldest sons of the +household--Reuben, his father's right-hand man in business matters +now; and Dan, who had the air and appearance of a sailor ashore, +as, indeed, was the case with him.</p> +<p>It was something which Dinah Morse had said that had evoked the +rather fierce disclaimer from the Master Builder, with the +rejoinder by Rachel as to the laxity of the times; and now it was +Dinah's voice which again took up the word.</p> +<p>"Whether it be God's judgment upon the city, or whether it be +due to the carelessness of man, I know not," answered Dinah +quietly; "I only say that the Bill of Mortality just published is +higher than it has been this long while, and that two in the Parish +of St. Giles have died of the plague."</p> +<p>"Well, St. Giles' is far enough away from us," said the Master +Builder. "If the Magistrates do their duty, there is no fear that +it will spread our way. There were deaths over yonder of the plague +last November, and it seems as though they had not yet stamped out +the germs of it. But a little firmness and sense will do that. We +have nothing to fear. So long as the cases are duly reported, we +shall soon be rid of the pest."</p> +<p>Dinah pressed her lips rather closely together. She had that +fine resolute cast of countenance which often characterizes those +who are constantly to be found at the bedside of the sick. Her +dress was very plain, and she wore a neckerchief of soft, white +Indian muslin about her throat, instead of the starched yellow one +which was almost universal amongst the women citizens of the day. +Her hands were large and white and capable looking. Her only +ornament was a chatelaine of many chains, to which were suspended +the multifarious articles which a nurse has in constant +requisition. In figure she was tall and stately, and in the street +strangers often paused to give her a backward glance. She was +greatly in request amongst the sick of the better class, though she +was often to be found beside the sick poor, who could give her +nothing but thanks for her skilled tendance of them.</p> +<p>"Ay, truly, so long as the cases are duly reported," she +repeated slowly. "But do you think, sir, that that is ever done +where means may be found to avoid it?"</p> +<p>The Master Builder looked a little startled at the question.</p> +<p>"Surely all good folks would wish to do what was right by their +neighbours. They would not harbour a case of plague, and not make +it known in the right quarter."</p> +<p>"You think not, perhaps. Had you seen as much of the sick as I +have, you would know that men so fear and dread the distemper, as +they most often call it, that they will blind their eyes to it to +the very last, and do everything in their power to make it out as +something other than what they fear. I have seen enough of the ways +of folks with sickness to be very sure that all who have friends to +protect the fearful secret, will do so if it be possible. It is +when a poor stranger dies of a sudden that it becomes known that +the plague has found another victim. Why are there double the +number of deaths in this week's bill, if more than are set down as +such be not the distemper?"</p> +<p>All the faces in the room looked very grave at that, for in +truth it was a most disquieting thought. The sailor came a few +steps nearer the fire, and remarked:</p> +<p>"It has all come from those hounds of Dutchmen! Right glad am I +that we are to go to war with them at last, whether the cause be +righteous or not. They have gotten the plague all over their land. +I saw men drop down in the streets and die of it when I was last in +port there. They send it to us in their merchandise."</p> +<p>"My wife will die of terror if she hears but a whisper of the +distemper being anigh us," remarked the Master Builder, with a sigh +and a look of uneasiness. "But men are always scaring us with tales +of its coming and, after all, there is but a death here and one +there, such as any great city may look to have."</p> +<p>At that moment the door was thrown open, and a pretty young +damsel, wearing a crimson cloak and hood, stepped lightly in.</p> +<p>"O father, mother, do but come and look!" she cried, with the +air of coaxing assurance which bespoke a favoured child. "Such a +strange star in the sky! Men in the streets are all looking and +pointing; and some say that it is no star, but a comet, and that it +predicts some dreadful thing which is coming upon this land. Do +come and look at it! There is a clear sky tonight, and one can see +it well. And I heard that it has been seen by some before this, +when at night the rain clouds have been swept away by the wind. Do +come to the window above the river and look! One can see it fine +from there."</p> +<p>This sudden announcement, falling just upon the talk of +pestilence and peril, caused a certain flutter and sensation +through the room. All the persons there rose to their feet and +followed the rosy-cheeked maiden out upon the staircase, and to a +window from which the great river could be seen flowing beneath. A +large expanse of sky could also be commanded from here, and as the +inside of the house was almost dark, it was easy to obtain an +excellent view of the strange appearance which was attracting so +much attention in the streets.</p> +<p>It certainly was no star that was glowing thus with a red and +sullen-looking flame. Neither shape nor position in the heavens +accorded with that of any star of magnitude.</p> +<p>"It was certainly," so said Reuben Harmer, who had some +knowledge of the heavenly bodies, "no star, but one of those +travelling meteors or comets which are seen from time to time, and +which from remote ages have been declared to foretell calamity to +the lands over which they appear to travel."</p> +<p>The Harmer family were godly people of somewhat Puritanic +leaning, yet they were by no means entirely free from the +superstition of their times, nor would Rachel have called it +superstition to regard this manifestation as a warning from God. +Why should He not send some such messenger before He proceeded to +take vengeance upon an ungodly city? Was not even guilty Sodom +warned of its approaching doom?</p> +<p>All faces then were grave, but that of the Master Builder wore a +look of fear as well.</p> +<p>"I must to my wife," he said. "If she sees this comet, she will +be vastly put about. I must to her side to reassure her. Pray +Heaven that no calamity be near to us!"</p> +<p>"Amen!" replied Harmer, gravely; and then the Master Builder +retreated down the staircase, whilst from a room below a cheerful +voice was heard announcing that supper was ready.</p> +<p>The party therefore all moved downstairs towards the kitchen, +where all the meals were taken in company with the apprentices, +shopmen, and serving wenches.</p> +<p>Dorcas, the maiden who had brought news of the comet, slipped +her. hand within Reuben's arm, and asked him in a whisper:</p> +<p>"Thinkest thou, Reuben, that it betides evil to the city?"</p> +<p>"Nay, I know not what to think," he answered. "It is a strange +thing, and men often say it betides ill; but I have no knowledge of +mine own. I never saw the like before."</p> +<p>"They spoke of it at my Lady Scrope's today," said Dorcas. "I +was behind her chair, with her fan and essence bottles, and the lap +dogs, when in comes one and another of the old beaux who beguile +their leisure with my lady's sharp speeches; and they spoke of this +thing, and she laughed them to scorn, and called them fools for +listening to old wives' fables. It is her way thus to revile all +who come anigh her. She said she had lived through a score of such +scares, and would snap her fingers at all the comets of the heavens +at once. Sometimes it makes me tremble to hear her talk; but +methinks she loveth to raise a shudder in the hearts of those who +hear her. She is a strange being. Sometimes I almost fear to go to +and fro there, albeit she treats me well, and seldom speaks harshly +to me. But men say she is above a hundred years old, and she leads +so strange a life in her lonely house. Fancy being there alone of a +night, with only that deaf old man and his aged wife within doors! +It would scare me to death. But she will not let one other of her +servants abide there with her!"</p> +<p>"Ay, it is her whimsie. Women folks are given to such," answered +Reuben, tolerantly. "She is a strange creature, albeit I doubt not +that men make her out stranger than she is. Well, well, the comet +at least will do us no hurt of itself; and if it be God's way of +warning us of peril to come, we need not fear it, but only set +ourselves to be ready for what He may send us."</p> +<p>Below stairs there was a comfortable meal spread upon the table, +simple and homely, but sufficient for the appetites of all. The +three rosy-faced apprentices, of whom a son of the house made one, +formed a link at table between the family and the shopmen and +serving wenches. All sat down together, and Rebecca, the daughter +who lived at home, served up the hot broth and puddings. The eldest +daughter was a serving maid in the household of my Lady Howe, and +was seldom able to get home for more than a few hours occasionally, +even when that fashionable dame was in London. Dorcas spent each +night under the shelter of her father's roof, and went daily to the +quaint old house close beside Allhallowes the Less, where lived the +eccentric Lady Scrope, her mistress, of whom mention has been made. +The youngest son was also from home, being apprenticed to a +carpenter in the service of the Master Builder next door, and he +lived, as was usual, in the house of his employer. Thus four out of +Harmer's seven children lived always at home, and Dan the sailor +was with them whenever his ship put into the river after a +voyage.</p> +<p>No talk of either comet or plague was permitted at table; indeed +the meal was generally eaten in something approaching to silence. +Sometimes the master of the house would address a question to one +of the family, or suppress by a glance the giggling of the lads at +the lower end of the table. Joseph's presence there rather +encouraged hilarity, for he was a merry urchin, and stood not in +the same awe of his father as did his comrades. Kindness was the +law of the house, but it was the kindness of thorough discipline. +Neither the master nor the mistress believed in the liberty that +brings licence in its train.</p> +<p>Life went very quietly, smoothly, and monotonously within the +walls of that busy house. Trade was brisk just now. The fashion +lately introduced amongst fine ladies of having whole dresses of +gold or silver lace, brought more orders for the lace maker than he +well knew how to accomplish in the time. He and his son and his +apprentices were hard at work from morning to night; and glad +enough was the master of the daily-increasing daylight, which +enabled him and those who were glad to earn larger wages to work +extra hours each day.</p> +<p>Being thus busy at home, he went less than was his wont abroad, +and heard but little either of the sullen comet which hung night +after night in the sky, or of the whispers sometimes circulating in +the city of fresh cases of the distemper.</p> +<p>These last, however, were growing fewer. The scare of a few +weeks back seemed to be dying down. People said the pest had been +stamped out, and the brighter, hotter weather cheered the hearts of +men, albeit in case of sickness it might be their worst enemy, as +some amongst them well knew.</p> +<p>"I never believed a word of it!" said the wife of the Master +Builder, as she sat in her fine drawing room and fanned herself +with a great fan made of peacock's feathers. She was very +handsomely dressed, far muore like a fine Court dame than the wife +of a simple citizen. Her comnpanion was a very pretty girl of about +nineteen, whose abundant chestnut hair was dressed after a +fashionable mode, although she refused to have it frizzed over her +head as her mother's was, and would have preferred to dress it +quite simply. She wished she might have plain clothes suitable to +her station, instead of being tricked out as though she were a fine +lady. But her mother ruled her with a rod of iron, and girls in +those days had not thought of rising in rebellion.</p> +<p>The Master Builder's wife considered that she had gentle blood +in her veins, as her grandfather had been a country squire who was +ruined in the civil war, so that his family sank into poverty. Of +late she had done all in her power to get her neighbours to accord +her the title of Madam Mason, which she extorted from her servants, +and which was given to her pretty generally now, although as much +in mockery, it must be confessed, as in respect of her finery. She +did not look a very happy woman, in spite of all the grandeur about +her. She had frightened away her simpler neighbours by her airs of +condescension and by the splendour of her house, and yet she could +not yet see any way of inducing other and finer folks to come and +see her. Sometimes her husband brought in a rich patron and his +wife to look at the fine room, and examnine the furniture in it, +and these persons would generally be mighty civil to her whilst +they stayed; but then they did not come to see her, but only in the +way of business. It was agreeable to be able to repeat what my lord +this or my lady that said about the cabinets and chairs; but after +all she was half afraid that her boasting deceived nobody, and +Gertrude would never come to her aid with any little innocent fibs +about their grand visitors.</p> +<p>"I never did believe a word of it," repeated Madam, after a +pause. "Gertrude, why do you not answer when I speak to you? You +are as dull as a Dutch doll, sitting there and saying nothing. I +would that Frederick were at home! He can speak when he is spoken +to; but you are like a deaf mute!"</p> +<p>"I beg your pardon, ma'am. I was reading--I did not hear."</p> +<p>"That is always the way--reading, reading, reading! Why, what +good do you think reading will do you? Why don't you get your silk +embroidery or practise upon the spinnet? Such advantages as you +have! And all thrown away on a girl who does not know when she is +well off. I have no manner of patience with you, Gertrude. If I had +had such opportunities in my girlhood, I should never have been a +mere citizen's wife now."</p> +<p>A slightly mutinous look passed across Gertrude's face. +Submissive in word and manner, as was the rule of the day, she was +by no means submissive in mind, and had her mother's ears been +sharper she might have detected the undertone of irony in the reply +she received.</p> +<p>"I think nobody would take you for a citizen's wife, ma'am. As +for me, I am not made to shine in a higher sphere than mine own. I +have not even the patience to learn the spinnet. I would sooner be +baking pies with Rebecca next door, as we used to do when we were +children, before father grew so rich."</p> +<p>Madam's face clouded ominously. She heartily wished she had +never admitted her children to intimacy with the Harmers next door. +It had done no harm in the case of Frederick. He was his mother's +son, every inch of him, and was as ready to turn up a supercilious +nose at his old comrades as ever Madam could wish.</p> +<p>But Gertrude was different--she was excessively provoking at +times. She did not seem able to understand that if one intended to +rise in the world, one must cut through a number of old ties, and +start upon a fresh track. It was not easy in those times to rise; +but still the wealthier citizens did occasionally make a position +for themselves, and get amongst the hangers-on of the Court party, +especially if they were open handed with their money.</p> +<p>Madam often declared that if they only moved into another part +of the town, everything she wanted could be attained; but on that +point her husband was inexorable. He loved the old bridge house. +There he had been born, and there he meant to die, and he had not +the smnallest intention of removing elsewhere to please even the +wife to whom he granted so many indulgences.</p> +<p>"You are a fool!" cried Madam, angrily; "you say those things +only to provoke me. I wish you had some right feeling and some +conversation. You are as dull as ditch water. You care for nothing. +I don't believe it would rouse you to hear that the plague was in +the next street!"</p> +<p>"Well, we shall see," answered Gertrude, with a calmness that +was at least a little provoking, "for people say it is spreading +very fast, and may soon be here."</p> +<p>"What!" cried Madam, in a sudden panic; "who says that? What do +you mean, girl?"</p> +<p>"It was Reuben who told me," answered Gertrude, with a little +blush which she tried to conceal by turning her face towards the +window.</p> +<p>But her ruse was in vain. Madam's hawk eye had caught the rising +colour, and her brow contracted sharply.</p> +<p>"Reuben! what Reuben? Have I not told you a hundred times that I +would have none of that sort of talk any more? Reuben, indeed! as +though you were boy and girl together! Pray tell me this, you +forward minx, does he dare to address you as Gertrude when he has +the insolence to speak to you in the streets, where alone I presume +he can do so?"</p> +<p>Gertrude's face was burning with indignation. She had to clasp +her hands tightly together to restrain the hot words which rose to +her lips.</p> +<p>"We have been children together--and friends," she said, "the +Harmers and I. How should we forget that so quickly--even though +you have forgotten! My father does not mind."</p> +<p>Madam's face was as red as her daughter's. She was about to make +some violent retort, when the sound of a footstep on the stairs +checked the words upon her lips.</p> +<p>"There is Frederick!" she said.</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. LONDON'S YOUNG +CITIZENS.</a></h2> +<p>The door of the room where mother and daughter sat was flung +wide open with scant ceremony, and to the accompaniment of a +boisterous laugh. Into the room swaggered a tall, fine-looking +young man of some three-and-twenty summers, dressed in all the +extravagance of a lavish and extravagant age. Upon his head he wore +an immense peruke of ringlets, such as had been introduced at Court +the previous year, and which was almost universal now with the +nobles and gentry, but by no means so amongst the citizens. The +periwig was surmounted by a high-crowned hat adorned with feathers +and ribbons, and ribbons floated from his person in such abundance +that to unaccustomed eyes the effect was little short of grotesque. +Even the absurd high-heeled shoes were tied with immense bows of +ribbon, whilst knees, wrists, throat, and even elbows displayed +their bows and streamers. The young dandy wore the full "petticoat +breeches" of the period, with a short doublet, a jaunty cloak hung +from the shoulders, and an abundance of costly lace ruffles adorned +the neck and wrists of the doublet, he wore at his side a short +rapier, and had a trick of laying his hand upon the hilt, as though +it would take very little provocation to make him draw it forth +upon an adversary.</p> +<p>His step was not altogether so steady as it might have been, as +he swaggered into his mother's presence. His handsome face was +deeply flushed. He was laughing boisterously; but there was that in +his aspect which made his sister turn away with a look of +repulsion, though his mother's glance rested on him with a look of +admiring pride that savoured of adoration. In her fond and foolish +eyes he was perfection, and the more he copied the vices and the +follies of the gallants about the person of the King, the prouder +did his vain and weak mother become of him.</p> +<p>"Ho! ho! ho! such a bit of fun!"</p> +<p>It is impossible to give Frederick Mason's words verbatim, as he +seldom opened his lips without an oath, and inter-larded his talk +with coarse jests in English and fragments of ribaldry in vile +French, till it would scarce be intelligible to the reader of +today.</p> +<p>"Such a prime bit of fun! Who would have thought that little +Dorcas next door would grow up such a marvelous pretty damsel! By +my troth, what a slap she did give me in return for my kiss!"</p> +<p>Gertrude suddenly turned upon her brother with flashing +eyes.</p> +<p>"Think shame of yourself, Frederick! You disgrace your boasted +manhood. How dare you annoy with your coarse gallantry the daughter +of our father's oldest friend, and that too in the open +streets!"</p> +<p>"How dare you speak so to your brother, girl?" cried Madam, +bristling up like an angry mother hen. "What call have you to chide +him? Is he answerable to you for his acts?"</p> +<p>Gertrude subsided into silence, for she could not answer back as +she would have liked. It was not for her to argue with her mother; +and Madam, having vanquished her daughter, turned upon her son.</p> +<p>"You must have a care how you vex our neighbours, for your +father would take it ill an he heard of it. Nay, I would not myself +that you mixed yourself up too much with them. They are honest good +folks enow, but scarce such as are fitting company for us. What of +this girl Dorcas? Is not she the one who is waiting maid to that +mad old witch woman in Allhallowes, Lady Scrope?"</p> +<p>"That may well be. I saw her come forth from a grim portal hard +by Allhallowes the Less. I knew not who it was, but I gave chase, +and ere she put her foot upon the bridge, I had plucked the hood +from off her pretty curls, and had kissed her soundly on both +cheeks. And at that she gave me such a cuff as I feel yet, and ran +like a fawn, and I after her, till she vanished within the door of +our neighbour's house; and then it came to me that it was Dorcas, +grown wondrous pretty since I last took note of her. If she comes +always home at this hour, I'll waylay my lady again and take toll +of her."</p> +<p>"You had better be careful not to let Reuben get wind of it" +said Gertrude, with suppressed anger in her voice. "If he were to +catch you insulting his sister, it is more than a slap or a cuff +you would get."</p> +<p>Frederick burst into a boisterous laugh.</p> +<p>"What! do you think a dirty shopman would dare lay hands upon +me? I'd run him through the body as soon as look at him. He'd +better keep out of reach of my sword arm. You can tell him so, fair +sister, if you have a tendresse for the young counter jumper."</p> +<p>Gertrude's sensitive colour flew up, and her brother laughed +loud and long, pointing his finger at her, and adding one coarse +jest to another; but the mother interposed rather hastily, being +uneasy at the turn the talk was taking.</p> +<p>"Hist, children, no more of this!</p> +<p>"I would not that this tale came to your father's ears, +Frederick; it were better to have a care where our neighbours are +concerned. Let the wench alone. There are many prettier damsels +than she, who will not rebuff you in such fashion."</p> +<p>"Ay, verily, but that is the spice of it all. When the wench +gives you kiss for kiss, it is sweet, but flavourless. A box on the +ear, and a merry chase through the streets afterwards, is a game +more to my liking. I'll see the little witch again and be even with +her, or my name's not Frederick Mason the Scourer!"</p> +<p>"Your father will like it ill if it comes to his ears," remarked +Madam, with a touch of uneasiness; "and for my part, the less we +have to do with our neighbours the better. They are no fit +associates for us."</p> +<p>"Say that we are no fit associates for them," murmured Gertrude, +beneath her breath.</p> +<p>Her heart was swelling with sorrow and anger. In her eyes there +was no young man in all London town to be compared with Reuben +Harmer. From the day when in childhood they had playfully plighted +their troth, she had never ceased to regard him as the one man in +the world most worthy of love and reverence, and she knew that he +had never ceased to look upon her with the same feelings.</p> +<p>Latterly they had had but scant opportunities of meeting. Madam +threw every possible obstacle in the way of her daughter's entering +the doors of that house, and kept her own closed against those of +her former friends whom she now chose to regard as her inferiors. +Madam had never been liked. She had always held her head high, and +shown that she thought herself too good for the place she occupied. +Her house had never been popular. No neighbours had ever been in +the habit of running in and out to exchange bits of news with her, +or ask for the loan of some recipe or household convenience. It had +not been difficult to seclude herself in her gradually increasing +dignities, and only her daughter had keenly felt the difference +when she had intimated that she wished the intimacy between her +family and that of the Harmers to cease.</p> +<p>Frederick had long since taken to himself other associates of a +more congenial kind. The Master Builder went to and fro as before, +permitting his wife full indulgence of her fads and fancies, but +resolved to exercise his own individual liberty, and quite +unconscious of the blow that was being inflicted upon his daughter, +who was naturally tied by her mother's commands, and forced to +abide by her regulations.</p> +<p>Madam had been quick to see that if she did not take care Reuben +Harmer would shortly aspire to the hand of her daughter, and she +was not sure but that her husband would be weak enough to let the +foolish girl please herself in the matter, and throw away what +chance she had of marrying out of the city, and rising a step in +life.</p> +<p>Madam pinned her main hopes of a social rise for herself in the +marriages of her children. She fondly believed that Frederick, with +his good looks and his wealth, could take his pick even amongst +high-born ladies, and not all the good-natured ridicule of her +husband served to weaken this conviction. She was not a great +admirer of her daughter's charms, but she knew that the girl was +admired, and had been noticed more than once by the fine ladies who +had come to look at her furniture and hangings. She had a plan of +her own for getting Gertrude into the train of some fine Court +dame, and once secured in such a position, her fair face and ample +dowry might do the rest. If her son and daughter were well married, +she would have two houses where she could make a home for herself +more to her liking. No end of ambitious dreams were constantly +floating in her shallow brain, and as all these were more or less +bound up with the future of her son and daughter, it was natural +that she should desire to put down with a strong hand the smallest +indication of a love affair between Gertrude and Reuben. She had +even persuaded her husband that Gertrude ought to make a good +marriage; and as he was able to give her an ample dowry, and was +proud of her good looks, he himself was of opinion that she might +do something rather brilliant, even if she did not realize her +mother's fond dreams.</p> +<p>All this was very well known to poor Gertrude by this time, and +it was seldom now that she did more than catch a passing glimpse of +Reuben, or exchange a few hasty words with him in the street. The +young man was proud, and knew that he was looked down upon by the +Master Builder and his wife. This made him very reticent of showing +his feelings, and reduced Gertrude often to the lowest ebb of +depression.</p> +<p>So the coarse jests of her brother were a keen pain to her, and +she presently rose and left the room in great resentment, followed +by a mocking laugh from the ill-conditioned young man.</p> +<p>Having lost one victim, that amiable youth next turned his +attention to his mother, and began to torment her with the same +zest as he had displayed in the baiting of his sister.</p> +<p>"All the town is talking of the plague," he remarked, in +would-be solemn tones. "They say that in St. Giles' and St. +Andrew's parishes they are burying them by the dozen every day;" +and as his mother uttered a little scream, and shrank away even +from him, he went on in the same tone, "All the fine folks from +that end of the town are thinking of moving into the country. The +witches and wizards are declaring openly in the streets that the +whole city is to be destroyed. Some folks say that soon the Lord +Mayor and the Magistrates will have all the infected houses shut up +straitly, so that none may go in or come forth when it is known +that the distemper has appeared there. The door will be marked with +a red cross, and the words 'Lord, have mercy upon us!' writ large +above it. So, good mother, when I come home one day with the marks +of the distemper upon me, the whole house will be closed, and none +will be able to go forth to escape it. So we shall all perish +together, as a loving family should do."</p> +<p>The blasphemies and ribald jokes with which this +good-for-nothing young man adorned his speech made it sound tenfold +more hideous than I can do. Even his mother shrank away from him, +in terror and amaze at his levity, and cried aloud in her fear so +that instantly the door opened, and her husband entered to know +what was amiss.</p> +<p>Frederick looked a little uneasy then, for he still held his +father in a wholesome awe; but the mother made no complaint of her +son, but only said she had been affrighted by hearing that there +were more deaths from the plague than she had thought would ever be +the case after all the care the Magistrates had taken, and was it +true that the Lord Mayor had spoken of shutting up the houses, and +so causing the sound ones to become diseased and to perish with the +stricken ones?</p> +<p>The Master Builder answered gravely enough; for he had himself +but just come in from hearing that the weekly Bills of Mortality +were terribly high, and that the deaths in certain of the western +parishes had been beyond all reckoning since the last years when +the plague had visited the city. True, there were not many put down +as having died of the plague; but it was known how much was done to +get other diseases set down in the bills, so that there was not +much comfort to be got out of that.</p> +<p>The Master Builder thought that the houses would not be shut up +unless things became much worse. The matter had been spoken of, as +he himself had heard; but the people were much against it, and it +would be a measure most difficult to enforce, and would tend to +make men conceal from the authorities any case of distemper which +appeared amongst them. But he said it was true enough that persons +of high degree were beginning to move into the country, at least +from the western part of the town; but that all felt very sure the +distemper would speedily be checked, and would not come within the +city walls at all, nor extend eastward beyond its boundaries.</p> +<p>Madam breathed a little more freely on hearing this, but made an +eager suggestion to her husband that they should go away if the +distemper began to spread.</p> +<p>But the Master Builder shook his head impatiently.</p> +<p>"A fine thing to run away from a chance ill, and court a certain +ruin! How do you think business will thrive if all the men run away +from their shops like affrighted sheep? No, no; it is often safest +to stay at home with closed doors than to run helter skelter to +strange places where one knows not who may have been last. Keep +indoors with your perfumes and spices, and keep the wench close +with you. That is the best way of outwitting the enemy. Besides, it +has come nowhere near us yet."</p> +<p>Madam had certainly no mind to be ruined, nor was she one who +loved change or the discomforts of travel. So she thought on the +whole her husband's advice was good. It would be much more +comfortable to stay here with closed doors, surrounded by the +luxuries of home.</p> +<p>Now as Frederick sat with outstretched legs in one of the +easiest chairs in the room, and heard his father speak of these +things, a thought came into his head which tickled his fancy so +vastly that throughout the evening he kept bursting into smothered +laughter, so much so that his sister threw him many suspicious +glances, and divined that he had some evil purpose in his head.</p> +<p>The May light lasted long in the sky; but as it failed Frederick +went out, as was his wont, and for many hours he spent his time +with a number of kindred spirits in a neighbouring tavern, quaffing +large potations, and dicing and gaming after the fashion of the +Court gallants.</p> +<p>The bulk of the young roisterers thus assembled belonged to one +of those bands of Scourers of which Frederick claimed to be the +head. They were the worthy successors to the "Roaring Boys" or +Bonaventors of past centuries, and their favourite pastime was, +after spending the night in revelry and play, to start forth +towards dawn and scour the streets, upsetting the baskets or carts +of the early market folks bringing their wares into the town, +scattering the merchandise in the gutter, kissing the women, +cuffing the men, wrenching off knockers from house doors, and +getting up fights with the watch or with some rival band of +Scourers which resulted in broken heads and sometimes in actual +bloodshed.</p> +<p>The Magistrates treated these misdemeanours with wonderful +tolerance when the culprits were from time to time brought before +them, and the nuisance went on practically unchecked--the people +being used to wild and dissolute ways and much brawling--and +looking on it as one of the necessary ills of life.</p> +<p>But upon this bright May morning, before the streets began to +awaken, even before the market folks were astir, Frederick led +forth his band intent upon a new sort of mischief. Some of the +number carried pots of red paint in their hands, and others pots of +white paint.</p> +<p>Up and down the empty streets paraded these worthies, pausing +here and there at the door of some citizen that presented a +tempting surface. One of their number would paint upon it the +ominous red cross, whilst another who had skill enough (for writing +was not the accomplishment of every citizen even then) would add in +staring white letters the legend, "Lord, have mercy upon us!"</p> +<p>It was a brutal jest at such a time, when the dread visitor had +actually appeared as it were in their midst, and all sober men were +in fear of what might betide, and of the methods already spoken of +for the suppression of the distemper. But it was its very +wickedness which gave it its charm in the opinion of the +perpetrators, and as they went from street to street, Frederick +suddenly exclaimed:</p> +<p>"Ha! we are close to Allhallowes. Let us adorn the door of the +old madwoman, Lady Scrope. They say she lives quite alone, and that +her servants come in the morning and leave at night. Sure they will +none of them have courage to pass the threshold when that sign +adorns it, and the old hag will have to come forth herself to seek +them. An excellent joke! I will watch the house, and give her a +kiss as she comes forth."</p> +<p>Whereupon the whole crew burst into shouts of drunken laughter, +and made a rush to the door, which stood flush in a grim-looking +wall just beneath the shadow of the church of Allhallowes the +Less.</p> +<p>Frederick had the paint pot in his hand, and he traced a fine +red cross upon the door, all the while making his ribald jests upon +the old woman within, he and his companions alike, far too drunk +with wine and unholy mirth to have eyes or ears for what was +happening close beside them. They did not hear the sound of an +opening window just above them. They did not see a nightcapped head +poked forth, the great frilled cap surrounding a small, wizened, +but keenly-courageous face, in which the eyes were glittering like +points of fire.</p> +<p>None of them saw this. None of them heeded, and the head was for +a moment silently withdrawn. Then it was again cautiously +protruded, and the next minute there descended on the head of +Frederick a black hot mass of tar and bitumen. It scalded his face, +it blinded his eyes. It choked and almost poisoned him by its +vaporous pungency. It matted itself in his voluminous periwig, and +plastered it down to his shoulders; it clotted his lace frills, and +ran in filthy rivulets down his smart clothes. In a word, it +rendered him in a moment a disgusting and helpless object, unable +to see or hear, almost unable to breathe, and quite unable to rid +himself of the sticky, loathsome mass in which he had suddenly +become encased.</p> +<p>Then from the window above came a shrill, jeering cry:</p> +<p>"To your task, bold Scourers--to your task! Scour your own fine +friend and comrade. Scour him well, for he will need it. Scour him +from head to foot. A pest upon you, young villains! I would every +citizen in London would serve you the same!"</p> +<p>Then the window above was banged to. The mob of roisterers fled +helter skelter, laughing and jeering. Not one amongst them offered +to assist their wretched leader. They left him alone in his sorry +plight to get out of it as best he might. They had not the smallest +consideration for one even of their own number overtaken by +misfortune. Roaring with laughter at the frightful picture he +presented, they dispersed to their own homes, and the wretched +Frederick was left alone in the street to do the best he could with +his black, unsavoury plaster.</p> +<p>He strove in vain to clear his vision, and to remove the peruke, +which clung to him like a second skin. He was in a horrible fright +lest he should be seen and recognized in this ignominious plight; +and although he felt sure his comrades would spread the story of +his discomfiture all over the town, he did not wish to be seen by +the watch, or by any law-abiding citizens who knew him.</p> +<p>But how to get home was a puzzle, blind and half suffocated as +he was; and he scarce knew whether anger or relief came uppermost +to his mind when he felt his arm taken, and a voice that he knew +said in his ear:</p> +<p>"For shame, Frederick! It is a disgrace to London the way you +and your comrades go on. And now of all times to jest when the foe +is at our doors. Shame upon you! The old dame has given you no more +than your due. But come with me, and I will get you home ere the +town be awake; and have a care how you offend again like this, for +the Magistrates will not suffer jests of such a kind at such a +time. Know you not that it is almost enough to frighten a timid +serving wench into the distemper to see such signs upon the doors? +And if it break out in the midst of us, who can say where it will +end?"</p> +<p>It was Reuben Harmer who spoke, as Frederick very well knew. The +young men had been boys together, and as Reuben was two years the +elder, he assumed a tone in speaking which Frederick now keenly +resented. But it was no time to repel an overture of help, and he +sullenly forced himself to accept Reuben's good offices. The great +clotted periwig was with some difficulty got off, and then it was +possible to remove the worst of the tar from face and eyes. +Frederick at last could see clearly and breathe freely, but +presented so lamentable an object that he only longed to get safe +home to the shelter of his father's house.</p> +<p>The costly periwig of curls had perforce to be left in the +gutter, hopelessly ruined, and Frederick, who had given more money +for it than he could well afford, shook his fist at the house which +contained the redoubtable old woman who had thus fooled and bested +him.</p> +<p>"You Scourers will find that you can play your meddlesome games +too often," remarked Reuben sternly, his eyes upon the red cross +and the half-completed words above. "I would that all the city were +of the same spirit as Lady Scrope. She always keeps a quantity of +hot pitch or tar beside her bed, with a lamp burning beneath it, in +case of attacks from robbers. You may thank your stars that it +descended not boiling hot upon your head. Had she been so minded to +punish you, she would have done so fearlessly. You may be thankful +it was no worse."</p> +<p>Frederick sullenly picked up his hat, which he had laid aside +while painting the door, and which had thus escaped injury, pulled +it as far over his face as it would go, and turned abruptly away +from Reuben.</p> +<p>"I'll be revenged on the old hag yet!" he muttered between his +teeth. "I've got a double debt to pay to this house now. I'll not +forget it either."</p> +<p>He turned abruptly away and scuttled home by the narrowest +alleys he could find, whilst Reuben went about looking for the red +crosses, and giving timely notice to the master of the house, that +they might be erased, as quietly and quickly as possible.</p> +<p>Accident had led Reuben early abroad that day, but he made use +of his time to undo as far as he was able the mischievous jesting +of Frederick's band of Scourers.</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. DRAWING +NEARER.</a></h2> +<p>"Brother Reuben, I cannot think what can be the reason, but my +Lady Scrope has bidden me beg of thee to give her speech upon the +morrow. All this day she has been in a mighty pleasant humour: she +gave me this silken neckerchief when I left today, and bid me bring +my brother with me on the morrow--and she means thee, Reuben."</p> +<p>"What can be the meaning of that?" asked Rachel Harmer, with a +look of curiosity. "Doth she often speak to thee of thy kindred, +child?"</p> +<p>"If the whim be on her, and she has naught else to amuse her, +she will bid me tell of the life at home, and of our neighbours and +friends," answered Dorcas. "But never has she spoke as she did +today. Nor can I guess why she would have speech with Reuben."</p> +<p>"I can guess shrewdly at that," said the young man. "It so +befell this morning that I found a party of roisterers at her door, +who were marking it with a red cross, as though it were a +plague-stricken house--as the Magistrates talk of marking them now +if the distemper spreads much further and wider. The bold lady had +herself put these fellows to the rout by pouring pitch upon them +from a window above; but I stopped to rebuke the foremost of them +myself, and to erase their handiwork from the door. I did not know +that I was either seen or known; but methinks my Lady Scrope has +eyes in the back of her head, as the saying goes."</p> +<p>"You may well say that!" cried Dorcas, with a laugh and a shrug. +"Never was there such a woman for knowing everything and everybody. +But she spoke not to me of any roisterers. Would I had been there +to see her pouring her filthy compound over them! She always has it +ready. How she must have rejoiced to find a use for it at +last!"</p> +<p>"It is an evil and a scurvy jest at such a time to mock at the +peril which is at our very doors, and which naught but the mercy of +God can avert from us," said the master of the house, very +gravely.</p> +<p>Then, looking round upon his assembled household, he added in +the same very serious way, "I have been this day into the heart of +the city. I have spoken with many of the authorities there. The +Lord Mayor and the Magistrates are in great anxiety, and I fear me +there can be no longer any doubt that the distemper is spreading +fearfully. It has not yet appeared within the city nor upon the +other side of the river; but in the western parishes it is +spreading every way, and they say that all who are able are fleeing +away from their houses. Perchance for those who can do so this may +be the safest thing to do. But soon they will not be permitted to +leave, unless they have a bill of health from the Lord Mayor, as in +the country beyond the honest folks are taking alarm, and are +crying out that we are like to spread the plague all over the +kingdom."</p> +<p>"I, too, have heard sad tales of the mortality," said Dinah, +raising her calm voice and speaking very seriously. "I met a good +physician, under whom I often laboured amongst the sick, and he +tells me that there be poor stricken wretches from whom all the +world flee in terror the moment it appears they have the distemper +upon them. Many have died already untended and uncared for, whilst +others have in the madness of the fever and pain burst out of the +rooms in which they have been shut up, and have run up and down the +streets, spreading terror in their path, till they have dropped +down dead or dying, to be carried to graveyard or pest house as the +case may be. But who can tell how many other victims such a +miserable creature may not have infected first?"</p> +<p>"Ay, that is the terror of it," said Harmer. "All are saying +that nurses must be found to care for the sick, and many are very +resolved that the houses where the distemper is found should be +straitly shut up and guarded by watchmen, that none go forth. It is +a hard thing for the whole to be thus shut in with the infected; +but as men truly say, how shall the whole city escape if something +be not done to restrain the people from passing to and fro, and +spreading the distemper everywhere?"</p> +<p>"I have thought," said Dinah, very quietly, "that it may be +given to me to offer myself as a nurse for these poor persons. I +have passed unscathed through many perils before now. Once I verily +believe I was with one who died even of this distemper, albeit the +physician called it the spotted fever, which frights men less than +the name of plague. There be many herbs and simples and decoctions +which men say are of great value in keeping the infection at bay. +And even were it not so, we must not be thinking only at such times +of saving our own lives. There be some that must be ready to risk +even life, if they may serve their brethren. The good physicians +are prepared to do this, to say nothing of the Magistrates and +those who have the management of this great city at such a time. +And it seems to me that women must always be ready to tend the sick +even in times of peril. I seem to hear a call that bids me offer +myself for this work; but none else shall suffer through me. If I +go, I return hither no more. I shall live amongst the sick until +this judgment be overpast, or until I myself be called hence, as +may well be."</p> +<p>All faces were grave and full of awe. Yet perhaps none who knew +Dinah were overmuch surprised at her words. Her life had been lived +amongst the sick for many years. She had never shrunk from danger, +or had spared herself when the need was pressing. Her sister +Rachel, although the tears stood in her eyes, said nothing to +dissuade her.</p> +<p>Nor indeed was there much time for discussion then, for the +Master Builder looked in at that moment with a face full of +concern. He brought the news that fresh revelations were being +hourly made as to the terrible rapidity with which the plague was +spreading in the parishes without the walls; and he added that even +the gay and giddy Court had been at last alarmed, and that the King +had been heard to say he should quit Whitehall and retire with his +Court and his minions to Oxford in the course of a week or a +fortnight, unless matters became speedily much better.</p> +<p>"Ay, that is ever the way," said Harmer, sternly. "The reckless +monarch and his licentious Court draw down upon the city the wrath +of God in judgment of their wickedness, and those who have provoked +the judgment flee from the peril, leaving the poor of the city to +perish like sheep."</p> +<p>"Well, well, well; fine folks like change, and it is easy for +them to go elsewhere. I would do the same, perchance, were I so +placed," said the Master Builder; "but we men of business must +stick to our work as long as it sticks to us.</p> +<p>"What about your mistress, Lady Scrope, Dorcas? Has she said +aught of leaving London? She is one who could easily fly. Not but +what I trust the distemper will be kept well out of the city by the +care taken."</p> +<p>"She has spoken no word of any such thing," answered Dorcas. +"She reads and hears all that is spoken about the plague, and makes +my blood run cold by the stories she tells of it in other lands, +and during other outbreaks which she can remember. Methinks +sometimes the very hair on my head is standing up in the affright +her words bring me. But she only laughs and mocks, and calls me a +little poltroon. I trow that she would never fly; it would not be +like her."</p> +<p>"Men and women do many things unlike themselves in stress of +particular and deadly peril," said the Master Builder. "Lady Scrope +would do well to consider leaving whilst the city has so good a +bill of health; it may be less easy by-and-by, should the distemper +spread."</p> +<p>"Thou canst speak to her of this thing, Reuben, when thou dost +see her on the morrow," observed his father. "Perchance she has not +considered the peril of being detained if she puts off flight too +long."</p> +<p>Reuben said he would name the matter to the lady; and when +Dorcas set forth upon the morrow for her daily walk, her brother +accompanied her, and told her in confidence what he had not told to +his family--how Frederick Mason had been served by the irate old +lady, and what a sorry spectacle he had presented afterwards.</p> +<p>Dorcas laughed heartily at the story. She had no love for +Frederick, and she told her brother that she suspected he had been +the half-tipsy gallant who had striven to kiss her in the streets, +and had partially succeeded. This put Reuben into a great wrath, +and he promised whenever he could do so to come and escort his +sister home from the house in Allhallowes. True, the distance was +but very short, yet the lane to the bridge head was lonely and +narrow, and Frederick was known for a most ill-conditioned young +man.</p> +<p>Lady Scrope received Reuben in a demi-toilet of a peculiar kind, +and a very strange and wizened object did she appear. She thanked +him for the rebuke she had heard him administer to the roisterer, +enjoyed a hearty laugh over his wretched appearance, and then +proceeded to indulge her insatiable taste for gossip by demanding +of him all the city news, and what all the world there was talking +about.</p> +<p>"Since this plague bogey has got into men's minds I see nobody +and hear nothing," she said. "All the fools be flying the place +like so many silly sheep; or, if they come to sit awhile, their +talk is all of pills and decoctions, refuses and ointments. Bah! +they will buy the drugs of every foolish quack who goes about the +streets selling plague cures, and then fly off the next day, +thinking that they will be the next victim. Bah! the folly of the +men! How glad I am that I am a woman."</p> +<p>"Still, madam," said Reuben, taking his cue, "there be many +noble ladies who think it well to remove themselves for a time from +this infected city. Not that for the time being the city itself is +infected, and we hope to keep it free--"</p> +<p>"Then men are worse fools than I take them for," was the sharp +retort. "Keep the plague out of the city! Bah! what nonsense will +they talk next! Is it not written in the very heavens that the city +is to be destroyed? Heed not their idle prognostications. I tell +you, young man, that the plague is already amongst us, even though +men know it not. In a few more weeks half the houses in the very +city itself will be shut up, and grass will be growing in the +streets. We may be thankful if there are enough living to bury the +dead. Keep it out of the city, forsooth! Let them do it if they +can; I know better!"</p> +<p>Dorcas paled and shrank, fully convinced that her redoubtable +mistress possessed a familiar spirit who revealed to her the things +that were coming; but Reuben fancied that the old lady was but +guessing, and he saw no reason to be afraid at her words. Saying +such things would not bring them to pass.</p> +<p>"Then, madam," he answered, "if such be the case, would it not +be well to consider whether you do not remove yourself ere these +things comne to pass? Pardon me if I seem to take it upon mnyself +to advise you, but I was charged by my father, who is like to be +appointed for a time one of the examiners of health whom the Mayor +and Magistrates think it well to institute at this time, that soon +it may not be so easy to get away from the city as it is now; +wherefore it behoves the sound whilst they are yet sound to bethink +them whether or not they will take themselves away elsewhere. Also +my mother wished me to ask the question of your ladyship, forasmuch +as she would like to know whether my sister in such case would be +required to accompany you."</p> +<p>Lady Scrope nodded her head several times, an odd light of +mockery gleaming in her keen black eyes.</p> +<p>"Tell your worthy father, good youth, that I thank him for his +good counsel; but also tell him that nothing will drive me from +this place--not even though I be the only one left alive in the +city. Here I was born, and here I mean to die; and whether death +comes by the plague or by some other messenger what care I? I tell +thee, lad, I am far safer here than gadding about the country. Here +I can shut myself up at pleasure from all the world. Abroad, I am +at the muercy of any plague-stricken vagabond who comes to ask an +alms. Let all sensible folks stay at home and shut themselves up, +and let the fools go gadding here, there, and all over. As for +Dorcas, let her come and go as long as she safely may; but if your +good mother would keep her at home, then let her abide there, and +return to me when the peril is overpast. I like the wench, and if +she likes to abide altogether with me she may do so. Let her mother +choose."</p> +<p>Dorcas, however, had no wish to live in that lonely house +altogether, and for the present there was no reason why she should +not go backwards and forwards to her father's abode. Her parents +were grateful to Lady Scrope for her offer, but for the present +there was no reason for making any change.</p> +<p>The weather during these bright days of May had been cool and +fresh, and in spite of all evil auguries, sanguine persons had +tried hard to believe and to make others believe that the peril of +a visitation of the plague had been somewhat overrated. Yet the +choked thoroughfares leading out of London gave the lie to these +suppositions, and for many weeks the bridge was a sight in itself, +crowded with carriages and waggons all filled with the richer folks +and their goods, hastening to the pleasant regions of Surrey to +forget their fears and escape the pestilential atmosphere of the +city.</p> +<p>Then towards the end of the month a great heat set in, and at +once, as it were, the infection broke out in a hundred different +and unsuspected places, not only without but within the city walls. +How the distemper had so spread none then dared to guess. It seemed +everywhere at once, none knew why or how. Doubtless it was in +innumerable instances the tainted condition of the wells from which +the bulk of the people still drew their water; but men did not +think of these things long ago. They looked each other in the face +in fear and terror, none knowing but that his neighbour in the +street might be carrying about with him the seeds of the dread +distemper.</p> +<p>It now behoved all careful citizens to bethink them well what +they would do, with the fearful foe knocking as it were at their +very doors, and the matter was brought home right early to the +Harmer household, by a thing that befell them at the very outset of +the access of hot weather which told so fatally upon the city +almost imumediately afterwards.</p> +<p>Rachel Harmer was awakened from sleep one night by the sound of +something rattling upon the bed-chamber floor, as though it had +fallen from the open casement, and as she came to her waking +senses, she heard a voice without calling in urgent accents:</p> +<p>"Mother! mother! mother!"</p> +<p>Rising in some alarm, she went to the window which projected +over the lower stories of the house, as was usual at that time, and +on putting out her head she beheld a female figure standing in the +roadway below. When the moonlight fell upon the upturned face, she +saw it was that of her daughter Janet, who was in the service of +Lady Howe, and was her waiting maid, living in her house not far +from Whitehall, and earning good wages in that gay household.</p> +<p>In no little alarm at seeing her daughter out alone in the +street at night, she spoke her name and bid her wait at the door +till she could let her in, which she would do immediately; but +Janet instantly replied:</p> +<p>"Nay, mother, come not to the door; come to the little window at +the corner, where I can speak quietly till I have told you all. +Open not the door till you have heard my lamentable tale. I know +not even now that I am right to come hither at all."</p> +<p>In great fear and anxiety the mother cast a loose wrapper about +her, and descended quickly to the little storeroom close against +the shop, where there was a tiny window which opened direct upon +the street. At this window, but a few paces away, she found her +daughter awaiting her, and by the light of the rush candle that she +carried she saw that the girl's face was deadly white.</p> +<p>"Child, child, what ails thee? Come in and tell me all. Thou +must not stand out there. I will open the door and fetch thee +in."</p> +<p>"No, mother, no--not till thou hast heard my tale," pleaded +Janet; "for the sake of the rest thou must be cautious. Mother, I +have been with one who died of the plague at noon today!"</p> +<p>"Mercy on us, child! How came that about?"</p> +<p>"It was my fellow servant and bed fellow," answered Janet. "We +were like sisters together, and if ever I ailed aught she tended me +as fondly as thou couldst thyself, mother. Today, when we rose, she +complained of headache and a feeling of illness; but we went down +and took our breakfast below with the rest. At least I took mine as +usual, though she did but toy with her food. Then all of a sudden +she put her hand to her side and turned ghastly white, and fell off +her chair. A scullery wench set up a cry, 'The plague! the plague!' +and forthwith they all fled this way and that--all save me, who +could not leave her thus. I made her swallow some hot cordial which +I think they call alexiteric water, and which is said to be very +beneficial in cases of the distemper; and she was able to crawl +upstairs after a while to her bed once more, where I put her. I +knew not for some hours what was passing in the house, though I +heard a great commotion there, and presently there stole in a +mincing physician who attends my lady, holding a handkerchief +steeped in vinegar to his nose, and smelling like an apothecary's +shop. He looked at poor Patience, who lay in a stupor, heeding +none, and he directed me to uncover her neck for him to see if she +had the tokens upon her. There had been none when I put her to bed +again, so that I had hoped it was but a colic or some such +affection; but, alas, when I looked at his direction, there were +the black swellings plainly to be seen. Forthwith he fled with +indecent haste, and only stopped to say he would send a nurse and +such remedies as should be needful."</p> +<p>"O my child! and thou wast with her all the time!--thou didst +even touch and handle her?"</p> +<p>"Mother, I could not leave her alone to die. And hardly had the +doctor gone than the fever came upon her, and it was all I could do +to keep her from rushing out of the room in her pain. But it lasted +only a brief while--for the poison must have gotten a sore hold on +her--and just after noon she fell back in mine arms and died.</p> +<p>"O mother, I see her face now--so livid and terrible to look +upon! O mother, mother, shall I too look like that when my turn +comes to die?"</p> +<p>"Hush, hush, my child! God is very merciful. It may be His good +pleasure to spare thee. Thy aunt doth go to and fro amongst the +smitten ones, and she is yet in her wonted health. But ere I call +thy father and ask counsel what we are to do, tell me the rest of +thy tale. Who came to thy relief? and how camest thou hither so +late?"</p> +<p>"I could not come before. I dared not go forth by day, lest I +bore about the seeds of the distemper. The nurse came at three +o'clock, and finding her patient already dead, wrapped her in a +sheet, and said that a coffin would be sent at dark, and that the +bearers would fetch her for burying when the cart came round, and +that when I heard the bell ring I must call to them from the window +and let them in. I asked why the porter should not do that, but she +told me that already every person in the house had fled. My lady +had fallen into an awful fright on hearing that one of her servants +was smitten, and before any knowledge could have been received of +it by the authorities, she had applied for and obtained a clean +bill for herself and her household, and every one of them had fled. +The house was empty, save for me and the poor dead girl; and I was +bidden to stay till her corpse was removed, for the nurse said she +was wanted in a dozen places at once, and that she had too much to +do with the sick to attend upon the dead."</p> +<p>"And thou wert willing to wait?"</p> +<p>"I could not leave her alone. Besides, I feared to walk the +streets till night. The nurse bid me not linger after the body was +taken, for no man knows when the houses will be shut up, so that +none can go forth who have been with an infected person. But it is +not so done yet, and I was free. But I dared not come home amongst +you all to bring, perhaps, death with me. I waited in the house +till the men and the cart came, and they brought a coffin and took +poor Patience away. They told me then that soon there would be no +more coffins, and that they would have to bury without them."</p> +<p>Janet paused and shuddered strongly.</p> +<p>"O mother, mother, mother!" she wailed, "what shall I do? What +will become of me? Shall I have to die in the streets, or to go to +the pest house? Oh, why do such terrible things befall us?"</p> +<p>The mother was weeping now, but the next moment she felt the +touch of her husband's hand upon her shoulder, and his voice said +in its quiet and authoritative way:</p> +<p>"What means all this coil and to do? Why does the child speak +thus? Tell me all; I must hear the tale.</p> +<p>"Janet, my girl, never ask the why and the wherefore of any of +the Lord's just judgments. It is for us to bow our heads in +repentance and submission, trusting that He will never try us above +what we are able to bear."</p> +<p>Comforted by the sound of her father's voice, Janet repeated her +tale to him in much the same words as before, the father listening +in thoughtful silence, without comment or question; till at the +conclusion of the tale he said to his wife:</p> +<p>"Go upstairs and bring down with thee my heavy riding cloak +which hangs in the press;" and when she had obeyed him, he added, +"Now go up to thy room, and shut thyself in till I call thee +thence."</p> +<p>Implicit obedience to her husband was one of Rachel's +characteristics. Although she longed to know what was to be done, +she asked no questions, but retired upstairs and fell on her knees +in prayer. The master of the house went to a great cask of vinegar +which stood in the corner, and after pretty well saturating the +heavy cloak in that pungent liquid, he unbarred the door, and +beckoning to his daughter to approach, threw about her the heavy +mantle and bid mer follow him.</p> +<p>He led her through the house and up to a large spare guest +chamber, rather away from the other sleeping chambers of the house, +and he quickly brought to her there a bath and hot water, and +certain herbs specially prepared--wormwood, woodsorrel, angelica, +and so forth. He bid her wash herself all over in the herb bath, +wrapping all her clothing first in the cloak, which she was to put +outside the door. Then she was to go to bed, whilst all her +clothing was burnt by his own hands; and after that she must submit +to remain shut up in that room, seeing nobody but himself, until +such time should have gone by as should prove whether or not she +had become infected by the distemper.</p> +<p>Janet wept for joy at being thus received beneath her father's +roof, having heard so many fearsome tales of persons being turned +out of doors even by their nearest and dearest, were it but +suspected that they might carry about with them the seeds of the +dreaded distemper. But the worthy lace maker was a godly man, and +brave with the courage that comes of a lively faith. He had learned +all that could be told of the nature of the distemper; and after he +had burnt all his daughter's clothing with his own hands, and had +assured himself that she felt sound and well, and had also +fumigated his own house thoroughly, he felt that he had done all in +his power against the infection, and that the rest must be left in +the hands of Providence.</p> +<p>The mother hovered anxiously about, but came not near her +husband till permitted by him. She did not enter the room where her +daughter now lay comfortably in a soft bed, but she prepared some +good food for her, which was carried in by the father later on, and +promised her that by the morning she should have clothing to put +on, and that she should have every care and comfort during the days +of her captivity.</p> +<p>Janet thanked God from the very bottom of her heart that night +for having given to her such good and kindly parents, and earnestly +besought that she might be spared, not only for her own unworthy +sake, but for their sakes who had risked so much rather than that +she should be an outcast from home at such a time of peril and +horror.</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. JAMES HARMER'S +RESOLVE.</a></h2> +<p>It was with a grave face, yet with a brave and cheerful mien, +that the worthy Harmer met his household upon the following +morning. He had passed the remainder of that strangely interrupted +night in meditation and prayer, and had arrived now at a resolution +which he intended to put into immediate effect.</p> +<p>His household consisted, it will be remembered, of his own +family, together with apprentices, shopmen, and serving wenches. To +all of these he now addressed himself, told the story which his +daughter had related of the treatment received in the house of the +high-born lady by the poor girl stricken by the pestilence, and how +it had made even his own child almost fear to enter her father's +house.</p> +<p>"My friends," said the master, looking round upon the ring of +grave and eager faces, "these things ought not to be. In times of +common trouble and peril the hearts of men should draw closer +together, and we should remember that God's command to us is to +love our neighbour as ourself. If we were to lie stricken of mortal +illness, should we think it a Christ-like act for all men to flee +away from us? But inasmuch as we ought all of us to take every care +not to run into needless peril, so must we take every right and +reasonable precaution to keep from ourselves and our homes this +just but terrible visitation, which God has doubtless sent for our +admonition and chastisement."</p> +<p>After this preface, Harmer proceeded to tell his household what +he had himself resolved upon. His two apprentices--other than his +own son Joseph--were sons of a farmer living in Greenwich; and he +purposed that very day to get his sailor son Dan to take them down +the river in a boat, that he might deliver the lads safe and sound +to their parents before further peril threatened, advising them to +keep them at home till the distemper should have abated, and +arranging with them for a regular supply of fresh and untainted +provisions, to be conveyed to his house from week to week by water, +so long as there should be any fear of marketing in the city. He +foresaw that very soon trade would come almost to a standstill. The +scare and the pestilence together were emptying London of all its +wealthier inhabitants. There would be soon no work for either +shopmen or apprentices, and he counselled the former, if they had +homes out of London to go to, to remain no longer in town, but to +take their wages and seek safety and employment elsewhere, until +the calamity should be overpast. He also gave the same liberty to +the serving wenches, one of whom came from Islington and the other +from Rotherhithe. And all of these persons having home and friends, +decided to leave forthwith, to be out of the danger of infection, +and of that still more dreaded danger of being shut up in an +infected house with a plague-stricken person.</p> +<p>The master gave liberally to each of his servants according to +their past service, and promised that if he should escape the +pestilence, and continue his business in more prosperous times, he +would take them back into his house again.</p> +<p>For the present, however, it seemed good to him that only his +own family should remain with him. His wife and three daughters +could well manage the house, and he did not desire that any other +person should be imperilled through the course of action he himself +intended to take.</p> +<p>When he took boat with his apprentices, he offered to Joseph to +accompany his companions and remain under the charge of the farmer +and his wife at Greenwich; but the boy begged so earnestly to +remain at home with the rest, that he was permitted to do so. Truth +to tell, Joseph was more fascinated than alarmed by the thought of +the advance of the dreaded plague, and was by no means anxious to +be taken away from the city when all the world was saying that such +strange things would be seen ere long. The lad felt so safe beneath +the care of wise and loving parents, that he would never of his own +will consent to leave them.</p> +<p>The moment the party had started by boat, the shop being that +day shut for the first time, albeit for some days nothing had been +stirring in the way of custom--Joseph darted away down a network of +alleys hard by in search of his younger brother Benjamin, who was +apprenticed to a carpenter in Lad Lane, off Wood Street, and +therefore much nearer to the infected parishes than the house on +the bridge. Benjamin was sure to know the latest news as to the +spread of the pestilence. Joseph was of opinion that it was all +rather fine fun, especially since it seemed like to get him a spell +of unwonted holiday.</p> +<p>Already as he passed through the streets he noted a great many +empty and shut-up houses. Men were going about with grave and +anxious faces. Often they would look askance at some passerby who +might be walking a little feebly or unsteadily, and once Joseph saw +a man some fifty paces in advance of him stagger and fall to the +ground with a lamentable cry.</p> +<p>Instead of flying to his assistance, all who saw him fled in +terror, crying one to the other, "It is the pestilence! Send for +the watch to get him away!"</p> +<p>And presently there came two men who lifted him up and carried +him away, but whether he was then alive or dead the boy did not +know, and a great awe fell upon him; for he had never seen such a +thing before, and could not understand how death could come so +suddenly.</p> +<p>"Is it always so with them?" he asked of a woman who was craning +her head out of a window to see where the bearers were taking +him.</p> +<p>"I cannot tell," she answered. "They say that there be many +walking about amongst us daily in the streets who carry death to +all in their breath and in their touch, and yet they know it not +themselves, and none know it till they fall as yon poor man did, +and die ofttimes in a few minutes or hours. If such be so, who +knows when he is safe? May the Lord have mercy upon us all! There +be seven lying dead in this street today, and though folks say they +died of other fevers and distempers, who can tell? They bribe the +nurses and the leeches to return them dead of smaller ailments, but +I verily believe the pestilence is stalking through our very midst +even now."</p> +<p>She shut down the window with a groan, and Joseph pursued his +way with somewhat modified feelings, half elated at being in the +thick of so much that was terrible and awesome, and yet beginning +to understand somewhat of the horror that was possessing the minds +of all. He found himself walking in the middle of the street, and +avoiding too close contact with the passersby; indeed all seemed +disposed to give strangers a wide berth just now, so that it was +not difficult to avoid contact.</p> +<p>Yet crowds were to be seen, too, at many open spaces. Sometimes +a fervid preacher would be declaiming to a pale-faced group on the +subject of God's righteous judgments upon a wicked and licentious +city. Sometimes a wizened old woman or a juggling charlatan would +be seen selling all sorts of charms and potions as specifics +against the plague. Joseph pressing near in curiosity to one of +these vendors, found him doing a brisk trade in dried toads, which +he vowed would preserve the wearer from all infection. Another had +packets of dried herbs to which he gave terribly long names, and +which he declared acted as an antidote to the poison. Another had +small leaflets on which directions were given for applying a +certain ointment to the plague spots, which at once cured them as +by magic. The leaflets were given away, but the ointment had to be +bought. Those, however, who once read what the paper said, seldom +went away without a box of the precious specific.</p> +<p>Joseph would have liked one himself, but had no money, and was +further restrained by a sense of conviction that his father would +say it was all nonsense and quackery.</p> +<p>Church bells were ringing, and many were tolling--tolling for +the dead, and ringing the living into the churches, where special +prayers were being offered and many excellent discourses preached, +to which crowds of people listened with bated breath. Joseph crept +into one church on his way for a few minutes, but was too restless +to listen long, and soon came forth again.</p> +<p>He was now near to Lad Lane, and hastening his steps lest he +might be further delayed, came quickly upon the back premises of +the carpenter's shop, where the sound of hammer and chisel and saw +made quite a clamour in the quiet air.</p> +<p>"They are busy here at all events," muttered Joseph, as he +pushed open the gate of the yard, and in truth they were busy +within; but yet the sight that presented itself to his eyes was +anything hut a cheerful one, for every man in the large number +assembled there was at work upon a coffin. Coffins in every stage +of construction stood everywhere, and the carpenters were toiling +away at them as if for dear life. Nothing but coffins was to be +seen; and scarcely was one finished, in never so rude a fashion, +but it was borne hurriedly away by some waiting messenger, and the +master kept coming into the yard to see if his men could not work +yet faster.</p> +<p>"They say they must bury the corpses uncoffined soon," Joseph +heard him whisper to his foreman as he passed by. "No bodies may +wait above ground after the first night when the cart goes its +round. Six orders have come in within the last hour. No one knows +how many we shall have by nightfall, or how many men we shall have +working soon. I sent Job away but an hour since. I hope it was not +the distemper that turned his face so green! They say it has broken +out in three streets hard by, and that it is spreading like +wildfire."</p> +<p>Joseph shuddered as he listened and crept away to the corner +where his brother was generally to be found. And there sure enough +was Benjamin, a pretty fair-haired boy, who looked scarce strong +enough for the task in hand, but who was yet working might and main +with chisel and hammer. His face brightened at sight of his +brother, yet he did not relax his efforts, only saying eagerly:</p> +<p>"How goes it at home with them all, Joseph? I trow it is the +coffin makers, not the lace makers, who have all the trade +nowadays! We are working night and day, and yet cannot keep up with +the orders."</p> +<p>Benjamin was half proud of all this press of business, but he +did not look as though it agreed with him. His face was pale, and +when at last he threw down his hammer it was with a gasp of +exhaustion. The day was very hot, and he had been at work before +the dawn. It was no wonder, perhaps, that he looked wan and weary, +yet the master passing by paused and cast an uneasy glance at him. +For it was from the very next stool that he had recently dismissed +the man Job of whom he had spoken, and of whose condition he felt +grave doubts.</p> +<p>Seeing Joseph close by he gave him a nod, and said:</p> +<p>"Hast come to fetch home thy brother? Two of my apprentices have +been taken away since yesterday. He is a good lad, and does his +best; but he may take a holiday at home if he likes. You are +healthier at your end of the town, and they say the distemper comes +not near water.</p> +<p>"Wilt thou go home to thy mother, boy? We want men rather than +lads at our work in these days."</p> +<p>Joseph had had no thought of fetching home his brother when he +started, but it seemed to him that Benjamin would be much better at +home than in this crowded yard, where already the infection might +have spread. The boy confessed to a headache and pains in his +limbs; and so fearful were all men now of any symptom of illness, +however trifling, that the master sent him forth without delay, +bidding Joseph take him straight home to his mother, and keep him +there at his father's pleasure. A young boy was better at home in +these days, as indeed might well be the case.</p> +<p>Benjamin was well pleased with this arrangement, having had +something too much of over hours and hard work.</p> +<p>"He thinks perchance I have the distemper upon me," he remarked +slyly to Joseph, "but it is not that. It is but the long hours and +the heat and noise of the yard. I shall be well enough when I get +home to mother."</p> +<p>And this indeed proved to be the case. The child was overdone, +and wanted but a little rest and care and mothering; and right glad +were both his parents to have him safe under their own wing.</p> +<p>Upon that hot evening, almost the first in June, James Harmer +had the satisfaction of feeling that he had every member of his +family under his own roof, and that his household contained now +none who were not indeed his very own flesh and blood. Janet had +slept peacefully almost the whole day, and had conversed happily +and affectionately through the closed door with her sisters, who +were rejoiced to have her there. She spoke of feeling perfectly +well but desired to remain in seclusion until certain that she +could injure none beside. She was not therefore able to be present +when her father unfolded his plans to the rest of the family, +though she was quickly apprised of the result later on.</p> +<p>"My dear wife and dutiful children," said the master of the +house, as he sat at table and looked about him at the ring of dear +faces round him, "I have been thinking much as to what it is right +for us to do in face of this peril and scourge which God has sent +upon the city; and albeit I am well aware that it is the duty of +every man to take reasonable care of himself and his household, yet +I also feel very strongly that in the protection of the Lord is our +greatest strength and safeguard, and that our best and strongest +defence is in throwing ourselves upon His mercy, and asking day by +day for His merciful protection for a household which looks to Him +as the Lord of life and death."</p> +<p>Then the good man proceeded to quote from Holy Writ certain +passages in which the pestilence is represented as being the +scourge of the Lord, and is spoken of as being an angel of the Lord +with a drawn sword slaying right and left, yet ever ready to spare +where the Lord shall bid.</p> +<p>"I shall then," continued Harmer, "daily and nightly confide +those of this household into the keeping of Almighty God, and pray +to Him for His protection and special blessing. It may be (since +His ears are always open to the supplication of His children) that +He will send His angel of life to watch over us and keep us from +harm; and having this confidence, and using such means as seem wise +and reasonable for the protection of all, I shall strive-- and you +must all strive with me--to dismiss selfish terrors and the horror +that begets cruelty and callousness, that we may all of us do our +duty towards those about us, and show that even the scourge of a +righteous and offended God may become a blessing if taken in +meekness and humility."</p> +<p>Then the good man proceeded to say what precautions he was about +to take for the preservation of his family. He did not propose to +fly the city. He had many valuable goods on the premises, which he +might probably lose were he to shut up his house and leave. He had +no place to go to in the country, and believed that the scourge +might well follow them there, were every householder to seek to +quit his abode. Moreover, never was there greater need in the city +for honest men of courage and probity to help to meet the coming +crisis and to see carried out all the wise regulations proposed by +the Mayor and Aldermen. He had resolved to join them--since +business was like to be at a standstill for a while--and do +whatsoever a man could do to forward that good work. His son Reuben +was of the same mind with him; whilst his wife would far rather +face the peril in her own house than go out, she knew not whither, +to be perhaps overtaken by the plague on the road. Her heart had +yearned over the sick ever since she had heard her daughter's +harrowing tale, and knew that her sister was at work amongst the +stricken. She knew not what she might be able to do, but she +trusted to her husband for guidance, and would be entirely under +his direction.</p> +<p>Some citizens spoke of victualling their houses as for a siege, +and entirely secluding themselves and their families till the +plague was overpast--and indeed this was many times done with +success, although the plan broke down in other cases--but this was +not Harmer's idea. He did indeed advise his wife and daughters to +be careful how they adventured themselves abroad, and where they +went. He had arranged at the farm near Greenwich for a regular +supply of provisions to be brought by water to the stairs hard by +the bridge; and since their house was supplied by water from the +New River, they were sure of a constant fresh supply. But he had no +intention of incarcerating himself or any of his household, and +preventing them from being of use to afflicted neighbours, whilst +he himself anticipated having to go into many stricken homes and +into infected houses. All the restriction he imposed was that any +person sallying forth into places where infection might be met +should change his raiment before going out, in a small building in +the rear of the shop which he was about to fit up for that purpose, +and to keep constantly fumigated by the frequent burning of certain +perfumes, of oil of sulphur, and of a coarse medicated vinegar +which was said to be an excellent disinfectant. On returning home +again, the person who had been exposed would doff all outer +garments in this little room, would resume his former clothing, and +hang up the discarded garments where they would be subjected to +this disinfecting fumigation for a number of hours, and would be +then safe to wear upon another occasion. He intended burning +regularly in his house a fire of pungent wood such as pine or +cedar, which was to be constantly fed with such spices and perfumes +and disinfectants as the physicians should pronounce most +efficacious. Perfect cleanliness he did not need to insist upon, +for his wife could not endure a speck of dust upon anything in the +house.</p> +<p>A careful diet, regular hours, and freedom from needless fears +would, he was assured, do much towards maintaining them all in +health, and he concluded his address by kneeling down in the midst +of his sons and daughters, and commending them all most fervently +to the protection of Heaven, praying for grace to do their duty +towards all about them, and for leading and guidance that they ran +not into needless peril, but were directed in all things by the +Spirit of God.</p> +<p>They had hardly risen from their knees before a knock at the +door announced the arrival of a visitor, and Joseph running to +answer the summons--since there was now no servant in the +house--came back almost immediately ushering in the Master Builder, +whose face wore a very troubled look.</p> +<p>"Heaven guard us all! I think my wife will go distraught with +the terror of this visitation, if it goes on much longer. What is a +man to do for the best? She raves at me sometimes like a maniac for +not having taken her away ere the scourge spread as it is doing +now. But when I tell her that if she is bent upon it she must e'en +go now, she cries out that nothing would induce her to set her foot +outside the house. She sits with the curtains and shutters fast +closed, and a fire of spices on the hearth, till one is fairly +stifled, and will touch nothing that is not well-nigh soaked in +vinegar. And each time that Frederick comes in with some fresh +tale, she is like to swoon with fear, and every time she vows that +it is the pestilence attacking her, and is like to die from sheer +fright. What is a man to do with such a wife and such a son?"</p> +<p>"Surely Frederick will cease to repeat tales of horror when he +sees they so alarm his mother," said Rachel; but the Master Builder +shook his head with an air of more than doubt.</p> +<p>"It seems his delight to torment her with terror; and she +appears almost equally eager to hear all, though it almost scares +her out of her senses. As for Gertrude, the child is pining like a +caged bird shut up in the house and not suffered to stir into the +fresh air. I am fair beset to know what to do for them. Nothing +will convince Madam but that there be dead carts at every street +corner, and that the child will bring home death with her every +time she stirs out. Yet Frederick comes to and fro, and she admits +him to her presence (though she holds a handkerchief steeped in +vinegar to her nose the while), and she gets no harm from him."</p> +<p>"Poor child!" said Rachel, thinking of Gertrude, whom once she +had known so well, running to and fro in the house almost like one +of her own. "Would that we could do somewhat for her. But I fear me +her mother would not suffer her to visit us, especially since poor +Janet came home last night from a plague-stricken house."</p> +<p>Reuben's eyes had brightened suddenly at his mother's words, but +the gleam died out again, and he remained quite silent whilst the +story of Janet's appearance at home was told. The Master Builder +listened with interest and sighed at the same time. Perhaps he was +contrasting the nature of his neighbour's wife with that of his +own. How would Madam have acted had her child come to her in such a +plight?</p> +<p>Harmer then told his neighbour the rules he was about to lay +down for his own household, all of which the Master Builder, who +was a keen practical man, cordially approved. He was himself likely +soon to be in a great strait, for most probably he would be +appointed in due course to serve as an examiner of health, and +would of necessity come into contact with those who had been +amongst the sick, even if not with the infected themselves, and how +his wife would bear such a thing as that he scarce dared to think. +Business, too, was at a standstill, all except the carpentering +branch, and that was only busy with coffins. If London became +depopulated, there would be nothing doing in the building and +furnishing line for long enough. Some prophets declared that the +city was doomed to a destruction such as had never been seen by +mortal man before. Even as it was the plague seemed like to sweep +away a fourth of the inhabitants; and if that were so, what would +become of such trades as his for many a year to come? Already the +Master Builder spoke of himself as a half-ruined man.</p> +<p>His neighbour did all he could to cheer him, but it was only too +true that misfortune appeared imminent. Harmer had always been a +careful and cautious man, laying by against a rainy day, and not +striving after a rapid increase of wealth. But the Master Builder +had worked on different lines. He had enlarged his borders wherever +he could see his way to doing so, and although he had a large +capital by this time, it was all floating in this and that venture; +so that in spite of his appearance of wealth and prosperity, he had +often very little ready money. So long as trade was brisk this +mattered little, and he turned his capital over in a fashion that +was very pleasing to himself. But this sudden and totally +unexpected collapse of business came upon him at a time when he +could ill afford to meet it. Already he had had to discharge the +greater part of his workmen, having nothing for them to do. The +expenses which he could not put down drained his resources in a way +that bid fair to bring him to bankruptcy, and it was almost +impossible to get in outstanding accounts when the rich persons in +his debt had fled hither and thither with such speed and haste that +often no trace of them could be found, and their houses in town +were shut up and absolutely empty.</p> +<p>"As for Frederick, he spends money like water--and his mother +encourages him," groaned the unhappy father in confidence to his +friend. "Ah me! when I look at your fine sons, and see their +conduct at home and abroad, it makes my heart burn with shame. What +is it that makes the difference? for I am sure I have denied +Frederick no advantage that money could purchase."</p> +<p>"Perhaps it is those advantages which money cannot purchase that +he lacks," said James Harmer, gravely--"the prayers of a godly +mother, the chastisement of a father who would not spoil the child +by sparing the rod. There are things in the upbringing of children, +my good friend, of far more value than those which gold will +purchase."</p> +<p>The Master Builder gave vent to a sound almost like a groan.</p> +<p>"You are right, Harmer, you are right. I have not done well in +this thing. My son is no better than an idle profligate. I say it +to my shame, but so it is. Nothing that I say will keep him from +his riotous comrades and licentious ways. I have spoken till I am +weary of speaking, and all is in vain. And now that this terrible +scourge of God has fallen upon the city, instead of turning from +their evil courses with fear and loathing, he and such as he are +but the more reckless and impious, and turn into a jest even this +fearful visitation. They scour the streets as before, and drink +themselves drunk night by night. Ah, should the pestilence reach +some amongst them, what would be their terrible doom! I cannot bear +even to think of it! Yet that is too like to be the end of my +wretched boy, my poor, unhappy Frederick!"</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. THE PLOT AND ITS +PUNISHMENT.</a></h2> +<p>Strange as it may appear, the awful nature of the calamity which +had overtaken the great city had by no means the subduing influence +upon the spirits of the lawless young roisterers of the streets +that might well have been expected. No doubt there were some +amongst these who were sobered by the misfortunes of their fellows, +and by the danger in which every person in the town now stood; but +it seemed as if the very imminence of the peril and the fearful +spread of the contagion exercised upon others a hardening +influence, and they became even more lawless and dissolute than +before. "Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die," appeared to be +their motto, and they lived up to it only too well.</p> +<p>So whilst the churches were thronged with multitudes of pious or +terrified persons, assembled to pray to God for mercy, and to +listen to words of godly counsel or admonition; whilst the city +authorities were doing everything in their power to check the +course of the frightful contagion, and send needful relief to the +sufferers, and many devoted men and women were adventuring their +lives daily for the sake of others, the taverns were still filled +day by day and night by night with idle and dissolute young men, +tainted with all the vices of a vicious Court and an unbelieving +age--drinking, and making hideous mockery of the woes of their +townsmen, careless even when the gaps amid their own ranks showed +that the fell disease was busy amongst all classes and ranks. +Indeed, it was no unheard of thing for a man to fall stricken to +the ground in the midst of one of these revels; and although the +master of the house would hastily throw him out of the door as if +he had staggered forth drunk, yet it would ofttimes be the +distemper which had him in its fatal clutches, and the dead cart +would remove him upon its next gloomy round.</p> +<p>For now indeed the pestilence was spreading with a fearful +rapidity. The King, taking sudden alarm, after being careless and +callous for long, had removed with his Court to Oxford. The fiat +for the shutting up of all infected houses had gone forth, and was +being put in practice, greatly increasing the terror of the +citizens, albeit many of them recognized in it both wisdom and +foresight. Something plainly had to be done to check the spread of +the infection. And as there was no means of removing the sick from +their houses--there being but two or three pest houses in all +London--even should their friends be prompt to give notice, and +permit them to be borne away, the only alternative seemed to be to +shut them up within the doors of the house where they lay stricken; +and since they might already have infected all within it, condemn +these also to share the imprisonment. It was this that was the +hardship, and which caused so many to strive to evade the law by +every means in their power. It drove men mad with fear to think of +being shut up in an infected house with a person smitten with the +fell disease. Yet if the houses were not so closed, and guarded by +watchmen hired for the purpose, the sick in their delirium would +have constantly been getting out and running madly about the +streets, as indeed did sometimes happen, infecting every person +they met. Restraint of some sort was needful, and the closing of +the houses seemed the only way in which this could be +accomplished.</p> +<p>It may be guessed what hard work all this entailed upon such of +the better sort of citizens as were willing to give themselves to +the business. James Harmer and his two elder sons, Reuben and Dan, +offered themselves to the Lord Mayor to act as examiners or +searchers, or in whatever capacity he might wish to employ them. +Dan should by this time have been at sea, but his ship being still +in the docks when the plague broke out remained yet unladed. None +from the infected city would purchase merchandise. The sailing +master had himself been smitten down, and Dan, together with quite +a number of sailors, was thrown out of employment.</p> +<p>Many of these poor fellows were glad to take service as watchmen +of infected houses, or even as bearers and buriers of the dead. At +a time when trade was at a standstill, and men feared alike to buy +or to sell, this perilous and lugubrious occupation was all that +could be obtained, and so there were always men to be found for the +task of watching the houses, though at other times it might have +been impossible to get enough.</p> +<p>Orders had been sent round the town that all cases of the +distemper were to be reported within a few hours of discovery to +the examiner of health, who then had the house shut up, supplied it +with a day and a night watchman (whose duty it was to wait on the +inmates and bring them all they needed), and had the door marked +with the ominous red cross and the motto of which mention has been +made before. Plague nurses were numerous, but too often these were +women of the worst character, bent rather upon plunder than +desirous of relieving the sufferers. Grim stories were told of +their neglect and rapacity. Yet amongst them were many devoted and +excellent women, and the physicians who bravely faced the terrors +of the time and remained at their post when others fled from the +peril, deserve all honour and praise; the more so that many amongst +these died of the infection, as indeed did numbers of the examiners +and searchers who likewise remained at their post to the end.</p> +<p>It will therefore be well understood that good Master Harmer and +his sons had no light time of it, and ran no small personal risk in +their endeavours to serve their fellow citizens in this crisis. +Although the pestilence had not as yet broken out in this part of +the town with the virulence that it had shown elsewhere, still +there were fresh cases rumoured day by day; and it often appeared +that when one case in a street was reported, there had been many +others there before of which no notice had been given, and that +perhaps half a dozen houses were infected, and must be forthwith +shut up. At first neglectful persons were brought before the +Magistrates; but soon these persons became too numerous, and the +Magistrates too busy to hear their excuses. An example was made of +one or another, to show that the laws must be kept; but Newgate +itself becoming infected by the disease, it was not thought fit to +send any malefactor there except for some heinous offence.</p> +<p>Dan joined the force of the constables, and day by day had +exciting tales to tell about determined persons who had escaped +from infected houses either by tricking or overpowering the +watchman. All sorts of clever shifts were made to enable families +where perhaps only one lay sick to escape from the house, leaving +the sick person sometimes quite alone, or sometimes in charge of a +nurse. Dan said it was heartrending to hear the cries and +lamentations of miserable creatures pleading to be let out, +convinced that it was certain death to them to remain shut up with +the sick. Yet, since they might likely be themselves already +infected, it was the greater peril and cruelty to let them forth; +and he had ghastly tales to tell of the visitation of certain +houses, where the watchmen reported that nothing had been asked for +for long, and where, when the house was entered by searchers or +constables, every person within was found either dead or dying.</p> +<p>The precautions duly observed by the Harmer family had hitherto +proved efficacious, and though the father and his sons going about +their daily duties came into contact with infected persons +frequently, yet, by the use of the disinfectants recommended by the +College of Physicians, and by a close and careful attention to +their directions, they went unscathed in the midst of much peril, +and brought no ill to those at home when they returned thither for +needful rest and refreshment. Janet had had a slight attack of +illness, but there were no absolute symptoms of the distemper with +it. Her father was of opinion that it might possibly be a very mild +form of the disease, but the doctor called in thought not, and so +their house escaped being shut up, and after a prudent interval +Janet came down and took her place in the family as before. Mother +and daughters worked together for the relief of the sick poor, +making and sending out innumerable dainties in the way of broth, +possets, and light puddings, which were gratefully received by poor +folks in shut-up houses, who, although fed and cared for at the +public expense when not able to provide for themselves, were +grateful indeed for these small boons, and felt themselves not +quite so forlorn and wretched when receiving tokens of goodwill +from even an unknown source.</p> +<p>The harmony, tranquillity, and goodwill that reigned in this +household, even in the midst of so much that was terrible, was a +great contrast to the anguish, terror, and ceaseless recriminations +which made the Masons' abode a veritable purgatory for its luckless +inhabitants. As the news of the spreading contagion reached her, so +did Madam's terror and horror increase. As her husband had said +long since, she sat in rooms with closed windows and drawn +curtains, burned fires large enough to roast an ox, and half +poisoned herself with the drugs she daily swallowed, and which she +would have forced upon her whole household had they not rebelled +against being thus sickened. As a natural consequence of her folly +and ungovernable fears, Madam was never well, and was for ever +discovering some new symptom which threw her into an ecstasy of +terror. She would wake in the night screaming out in uncontrollable +fear that she had gotten the plague--that she felt a burning tumour +here or there upon her person--that she was sinking away into a +deadly swoon, or that something fatal was befalling her. By day she +would fall into like passions of fear, call out to her daughter to +send for every physician whose name she had heard, and upbraid and +revile her in the most unmeasured terms if the poor girl ventured +to hint that the doctors were beginning to be tired of coming to +listen to what always proved imaginary terrors.</p> +<p>The only times when husband or daughter enjoyed any peace was +when Frederick chose to make his appearance at home. On these +occasions his mother would summon him to her presence, although in +mortal fear lest he should bring infection with him, and make him +tell her all the most frightful stories which he had picked up +about the awful spread of the disease, about the iniquities and +abominations practised by nurses and buriers, of which last there +was plenty of gossip (although probably much was set down in malice +and much exaggerated) and all the prognostications of superstitious +or profane persons as to the course the pestilence was going to +take. Eagerly did she listen to all of these stories, which +Frederick took care should be very well spiced, as it was at once +his amusement to frighten his mother and spite his sister; for +Gertrude in private implored him not to continue to alarm their +mother with his frightful tales, and also begged him for his own +sake to relinquish his evil habits of intemperance, which at such a +time as this might lead to fatal results.</p> +<p>The good-for-nothing youth only mocked at her, and derided his +father when he gave him the same warning. He had become perfectly +unmanageable and reckless, and nothing that he heard or saw about +him produced any impression. Although taverns and ale houses were +closely watched, and ordered to close at nine o'clock, and the +gatherings of idle and profligate youths of whatever condition of +life sternly reprobated and forbidden by the authorities, yet these +worthies found means of evading or defying the regulations, and +their revels continued as before, so that Frederick was seldom +thoroughly sober, and more reckless and careless even than of old. +In vain his father strove to bring him to a better mind; in vain he +warned him of the peril of his ways and the danger to his health of +such constant excesses. Frederick only laughed insolently; +whereupon the Master Builder, who had but just come from his +neighbour's house, and was struck afresh with the contrast +presented by the two homes, asked him if he knew how Reuben Harmer +was passing his time, and made a few bitter comparisons between his +son and those of his neighbour.</p> +<p>This was perhaps unfortunate, for Frederick, like most men of +his type, was both vain and spiteful. The mention of the Harmers +put him instantly in mind of his grudge against Reuben and his +suddenly-aroused admiration for rosy-cheeked Dorcas, both of which +matters had been put out of his head by recent events. He had +discovered also that Reuben generally accompanied his sister home +from Lady Scrope's house in the evening, so that it had not been +safe to pursue his attempted gallantries towards the maid. But as +he heard his father's strictures upon his conduct, coupled with +laudations of his old rival Reuben, a gleam of malice shone in his +eyes, and he at once made up his mind to contrive and carry out a +project which had been vaguely floating in his brain for some time, +and which might be the more easily arranged now that the town was +in a state of confusion and distress, and the streets were often so +empty and deserted.</p> +<p>In that age of vicious licence, it seemed nothing but an +excellent joke to Frederick and his boon companions to waylay a +pretty city maiden returning to her home from her daily duties. +Frederick meant no harm to the girl; but he had been piqued by the +way in which his compliments and kisses had been received, and +above all he was desirous to do a despite to Reuben, whose rebukes +still rankled in his heart, though he had quickly forgotten his +good offices on the occasion of his escapade before Lady Scrope's +door. Moreover, he owed that notable old woman a grudge likewise, +and thought he could pay off scores all round by making away with +pretty Dorcas, at any rate for a while. So he and his comrades laid +their plans with what they thought great skill, resolved that they +should be carried out upon the first favourable opportunity.</p> +<p>For a while Dorcas had been rather nervous of leaving the house +in Allhallowes unless Reuben was waiting for her. But as she had +seen no more of the gallant who had accosted her, and as it was +said on all hands that these had left London in hundreds, she had +taken courage of late, and had bidden her brother not incommode +himself on her account, if it were difficult for him to be her +escort home.</p> +<p>Of late he had oftentimes been kept away by pressure of other +duties. Sometimes Dan had come in his stead. Sometimes she had +walked back alone and unmolested. Persons avoided each other in the +streets now, and hurried by with averted glances. Although upon her +homeward route, which was but short, she had as yet no infected +houses to pass, she always hastened along half afraid to look about +her. But her father's good counsel and his daily prayers for his +household so helped her to keep up heart, that she had not yet been +frightened from her occupation, although her mistress always +declared on parting in the evening that she never expected to see +her back in the morning.</p> +<p>"If the plague does not get you, some coward terror will. Never +mind; I can do without you, child. I never looked for you to have +kept so long at your post. All the rest have fled long since."</p> +<p>Which was true indeed, only Dorcas and the old couple who lived +in the house still continuing their duties. Fear of the pestilence +had driven away the other servants, and they had sought safety on +the other side of the water, where it was still believed infection +would not spread.</p> +<p>"I will come back in the morning. My father bids us all do our +duty, and sets us the example, madam," said Dorcas, as she prepared +to take her departure.</p> +<p>It was a dark evening for the time of year; heavy thunderclouds +were hanging low in the sky and obscuring the light. The air was +oppressive, and seemed charged with noxious vapours. Part of this +was due to the cloud of smoke wafted along from one of the great +fires kept burning with the object of dispelling infection. But +Dorcas shivered as she stepped out into the empty street, and +looked this way and that, hoping to see one of her brothers. But +nobody was in sight and she had just descended the steps and was +turning towards her home when out from a neighbouring porch there +swaggered a very fine young gallant, who made an instant rush +towards her, with words of welcome and endearment on his lips.</p> +<p>In a moment Dorcas recognized him not only as the gallant who +had addressed her once before, but also as Frederick Mason, her +brothers' old playfellow, of whom such evil things were spoken now +by all their neighbours on the bridge.</p> +<p>Uttering a little cry of terror, the girl darted back, turned, +and commenced running like a hunted hare in the opposite direction, +careless where she went or what she did provided she only escaped +from the address and advances of her pursuer. But fleet as were her +own steps, those in pursuit seemed fleeter. She heard her tormentor +coming after her, calling her by name and entreating for a hearing. +She knew that he was gaining upon her and must soon catch her up. +She was in a lonely street where not a single passerby seemed to be +stirring. She looked wildly round for some way of escape, and just +at that moment saw a man come round a corner and fit a key into the +door of one of the houses.</p> +<p>Without pausing to think, Dorcas made a rush towards him, and so +soon as the door was opened she dashed within the house, and fled +up the staircase--fled she knew not whither--uttering breathless, +frightened cries, whilst all the time she knew that her pursuer was +close behind, and heard his voice mingled with angry cries of +remonstrance from the man they had left below.</p> +<p>Suddenly a door close to Dorcas opened, and a new terror was +revealed to her horror-stricken gaze. A gaunt, tall figure, wrapped +in a long white garment that looked like grave clothes, sprang out +into the stairway with a shriek that was like nothing human. Dorcas +sank, almost fainting with terror, to the ground; but the +spectre--for such it seemed to her--paid no heed to her, but sprang +upon her pursuer, who had at that moment come up, and the next +moment had his arms wound about him in a bearlike embrace, whilst +all the time he was laughing an awful laugh. Then lifting the +unfortunate young man off his feet with a strength that was almost +superhuman, he bore him rapidly down the stairs and rushed out with +him into the street.</p> +<p>All this happened in so brief a moment of time that Dorcas had +not even time to regain her feet, or to utter the scream of terror +which came to her lips. But as she found breath to utter her cry, +another door opened and a scared face looked out, whilst a woman's +voice asked in lamentable accents:</p> +<p>"What do you here, maiden? What has happened to bring any person +into this shut-up house? Child, child, how didst thou obtain +entrance here? The plague is in this house, and we are straitly +shut up!"</p> +<p>Before Dorcas could answer for fright and the confusion of her +faculties, a pale-faced watchman came hurrying up the stairs.</p> +<p>"Where is the maid?" he asked, and then seeing Dorcas he grasped +her by the wrist and cried, "Unless you wish to be shut up for a +month, come away instantly. This is a stricken house. What +possessed you to seek shelter here? Better anything than that.</p> +<p>"As for your son, mistress, he is fled forth into the street; I +could not hinder him. We are undone if the constable comes. But if +we can get him back again ere that, all may be well. I will let you +forth to lead him hither if he will listen to your voice."</p> +<p>From the room whence the sick man had appeared a frightened face +looked forth, and a half-tipsy old crone whimpered out:</p> +<p>"The fault was none of mine. I had but just dropped asleep for a +moment. But when a man has the strength of ten what can one poor +old woman do?"</p> +<p>Without paying any heed to this creature, the watchman and the +mother of the plague-stricken man, together with Dorcas, who +hurriedly told her tale as they moved, ran down the dark staircase +and out into the street. There, a little way off, was the tall +spectre-like figure, still hugging in bearlike embrace the hapless +Frederick, and dancing the while a most weird and fantastic dance, +chanting some awful words which none could rightly catch, but the +burden of which was, "The dance of death! the dance of death! None +who dances here with me will dance with any other!"</p> +<p>"For Heaven's sake release him from that embrace!" cried the +mother, who knew that her son was smitten to death. "If all be true +that the maid hath said, he is not fit to die, and that embrace is +a deadly one!--O my son, my son! come back, come back!</p> +<p>"Mercy on us, here is the watch! We are undone!"</p> +<p>Indeed the trampling of many hasty feet announced the arrival of +a number of persons upon the scene. It seemed like enough to be the +constables or the watch; but the moment the newcomers appeared +round the corner, Dorcas, uttering a little shriek of joy and +relief, threw herself upon the foremost man, who was in fact none +other than Reuben himself--Reuben, followed closely by his brother +Dan, and they by several young roisterers, the boon companions of +Frederick.</p> +<p>It had chanced that almost as soon as Dorcas had run from Lady +Scrope's door, hotly pursued by Frederick, her brothers had come up +to fetch her thence. It was also part of that worthy's plan that +they should hear she had been carried off, though not by himself. +His half-tipsy comrades, therefore, who had come to see the sport, +immediately informed the young men that the maid had been pursued +by a Scourer in such and such a direction; and so quickly had the +brothers pursued the flying footsteps of the pair--guided by the +footmarks in the dusty and untrodden streets--that they had come +upon this strange and ghastly scene almost at its commencement, and +in a moment their practised eyes took in what had happened.</p> +<p>The open door marked with the ominous red cross, the troubled +face of the watchman, the ghastly apparition of the delirious +plague-stricken man, the horror depicted in the face of the +mother--all this told a tale of its own. Scenes of a like kind were +now growing common enough in the city; but this was more terrible +to the young men from the fact that the face of the unhappy and +half-fainting Frederick was known to them and that they understood +the awful peril into which this adventure had thrown him. They knew +the strength of delirious patients, and the peril of contagion in +their touch. To attempt to loosen that bearlike clasp might be +death to any who attempted it.</p> +<p>Reuben looked about him, still holding his sister in his arms as +though to keep her away from the peril; and Dan, who had taken one +step forward towards the sheeted spectre, paused and muttered +between his teeth:</p> +<p>"The hound! he has but got his deserts!"</p> +<p>"True," said Reuben, for he was certain now that it had been +Frederick who was Dorcas's pursuer; "yet we must not leave him +thus. He will be strangled or choked by the pestilential smell if +we cannot get him away. Take Dorcas, Dan. Let me see if I can do +aught with him."</p> +<p>But even as Reuben spoke, and Dorcas clung closer than ever to +him in fear that he was about to adventure himself into greater +peril, the delirious man suddenly flung Frederick from him, so that +he fell upon the pavement almost as one dead; and then, with a +hideous shriek that rang in their ears for long, fled back to the +house as rapidly as he had left it, and fell down dead a few +moments later upon the bed from which he had so lately risen.</p> +<p>That fact they learned only the next day. For the moment it was +enough that the patient was safely within doors again, and that the +watchman could make fast the door. The roisterers had fled at the +first sight of the plague-stricken man with their hapless leader in +his embrace, and now the darkening street contained only the +prostrate figure on the pavement, the two brothers, and the +white-faced Dorcas, who felt like to die of fear and horror.</p> +<p>As chance or Providence would have it, up at that very moment +came the Master Builder himself, and seeing his son in such a +plight, shook his head gravely, thinking him drunk in the gutter. +But Reuben went up and told all the tale, as far as he knew or +guessed it, and Dorcas having confirmed the same more by gestures +than words, the unhappy father smote his brow, and cried in a voice +of lamentation:</p> +<p>"Alas that I should have such a son! O unhappy, miserable youth! +what will be thy doom now?"</p> +<p>At this cry Frederick moved, and got slowly upon his feet. He +had been stunned by the violence of his fall, and for the first +moment believed himself drunk, and caught at his father's arm for +support.</p> +<p>"Have a care, sir," said Reuben, in a low voice; "he may be +infected already by the contact."</p> +<p>But the Master Builder only uttered a deep sigh like a groan, as +he answered, "I fear me he is infected by a distemper worse then +the plague. I thank you, lads, for your kindly thoughts towards him +and towards me, but I must e'en take this business into mine own +hands. Get you away, and take your sister with you. It is not well +for maids to be abroad in a city where such things can happen. +Lord, indeed have mercy upon us!"</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. NEIGHBOURS IN +NEED.</a></h2> +<p>Gertrude Mason sat in the topmost attic of the house, leaning +out at the open window, and drinking in, as it were, great draughts +of fresh air, as she watched the lights beginning to sparkle from +either side of the river, and the darkening volume of water +slipping silently beneath.</p> +<p>This attic was Gertrude's haven of refuge at this dread season, +when almost every other window in the house was shuttered and +close-curtained; when she was kept like a prisoner within the walls +of the house, and half smothered and suffocated by the fumes of the +fires which her mother insisted on burning, let the weather be ever +so hot, as a preventive against the terrible infection which was +spreading with fearful rapidity throughout all London.</p> +<p>But Madam Mason's feet never climbed these steep ladder-like +stairs up to this eyrie, which all her life had been dear to +Gertrude. In her childhood it had been her playroom. As she grew +older, she had gradually gathered about her in this place numbers +of childish and girlish treasures. Her father bestowed gifts upon +her at various times. She had clever fingers of her own, and +specimens of her needlework and her painting adorned the walls. At +such times as the fastidious mistress of the house condemned +various articles of furniture as too antiquated for her taste, +Gertrude would get them secretly conveyed up here; so that her +lofty bower was neither bare nor cheerless, but, on the contrary, +rather crowded with furniture and knick-knacks of all sorts. She +kept her possessions scrupulously clean, lavishing upon them much +tender care, and much of that active service in manual labour which +she found no scope for elsewhere. Her happiest hours were spent up +in this lonely attic, far removed from the sound of her mother's +plaints or her brother's ribald and too often profane jesting. Here +she kept her books, her lute, and her songbirds; and the key of her +retreat hung always at her girdle, and was placed at night beneath +her pillow.</p> +<p>This evening she had been hastily dismissed from her father's +presence, he having come in with agitated face, and bidden her +instantly take herself away whilst he spoke with her mother. She +had obeyed at once, without pausing to ask the questions which +trembled on her lips. That something of ill had befallen she could +not doubt; but at least her father was safe, and she must wait with +what patience she could for the explanation of her sudden +dismissal.</p> +<p>She knew from her brother's reports that already infected houses +were shut up, and none permitted to go forth. But so straitly had +she herself been of late imprisoned within doors, that she felt it +would make but little difference were she to hear that a watchman +guarded the door, and that the fatal red cross had been painted +upon it.</p> +<p>"Our neighbours are not fearful as we are. They go to and fro in +the streets. They seek to do what they can for the relief of the +sick. My father daily speaks of their courage and faith. Why may +not I do likewise? I would fain tend the sick, even though my life +should be the forfeit. We can but live once and die once. Far +sooner would I spend a short life of usefulness to my fellow men, +than linger out a long and worthless existence in the pursuit of +idle pleasures. It does not bring happiness. Ah! how little +pleasure does it bring!"</p> +<p>Gertrude spoke half aloud and with some bitterness, albeit she +strove to be patient with the foibles of her mother, and to think +kindly of her, her many faults notwithstanding. But the terror of +these days was taking with her a very different form from what it +did with Madam Mason. It was inflaming within her a great desire to +be up and doing in this stricken city, where the fell disease was +walking to and fro and striking down its victims by hundreds and +thousands. Other women, in all lands and of all shades of belief, +had been found to come forward at seasons of like peril, and devote +themselves fearlessly to the care of the sick. Why might not she +make one of this band? What though it should cost her her life? +Life was not so precious a thing to her that she should set all +else aside to preserve it!</p> +<p>She was awakened from her fit of musing by an unwonted sound--a +hollow tapping, tapping, tapping, which seemed to come from a +corner of the attic where the shadows gathered most dun and dark. +The girl drew in her head from the window with a startled +expression on her face, and was then more than ever aware of the +strange sound which caused a slight thrill to run through her +frame.</p> +<p>What could it be? There was no other room in their house from +which the sound could proceed. She was not devoid of the +superstitious feelings of the age, and had heard before of ghostly +tappings that were said to be a harbinger of coming death or +misfortune.</p> +<p>Tap! tap! tap! The sound continued with a ceaseless regularity, +and then came other strange sounds of wrenching and tearing. These +were perhaps not quite so ghostly, but equally alarming. What could +it be? Who and what could be behind that wall? Gertrude had heard +stories of ghastly robberies, committed during these past days in +plague-stricken houses, which were entered by worthless vagabonds, +when all within were dead or helpless, and from which vantage +ground they had gained access into other houses, and had sometimes +brought the dread infection with them.</p> +<p>Gertrude was by nature courageous, and she had always made it a +point of duty not to add to her mother's alarms by permitting +herself to fall a victim to nervous terrors. Frightened though she +undoubtedly was, therefore, she did not follow the impulse of her +fear and run below to summon her father, who was, she suspected, +bent on some serious work of his own; but she stood very still and +quiet, pressing her hands over her beating heart, resolved if +possible to discover the mystery for herself before giving any +alarm.</p> +<p>All at once the sounds grew louder; something seemed to give +way, and she saw a hand, a man's hand, pushed through some small +aperture. At that she uttered a little cry.</p> +<p>"Who is there?" she cried, in a shaking voice; and immediately +the hand was withdrawn, whilst a familiar and most reassuring voice +made answer:</p> +<p>"Is anybody there? I beg ten thousand pardons. I had thought the +attic would be hare and empty."</p> +<p>"Reuben!" cried Gertrude, springing forward towards the small +aperture in the wall. "Oh, what is it? Is it indeed thou? And what +art thou doing to the wall?"</p> +<p>"Gertrude! is that thy voice indeed? Nay, now, this is a good +hap. Sweet Mistress Gertrude, have I thy permission to open once +again betwixt thy home and mine that door which as children thy +brother and we did contrive, but which was presently sealed up, +though not over-strongly?"</p> +<p>"Ah, the door!" cried Gertrude, coming forward to the place and +feeling with her hands at the laths and woodwork; "I had forgot, +but it comes to me again. Yes, truly there was a rude door once. +Oh, open it quickly! I will get thee a light and hold it. Dost thou +know, Reuben, what has befallen to make my father look as he did +but now? I trow it is something evil. My heart is heavy within +me."</p> +<p>"Ay, I know," answered Reuben; "I will tell thee anon, sweet +mistress, if thou wilt let me into thy presence."</p> +<p>"Nay, call me not mistress," said Gertrude, with a little accent +of reproach in her voice. "Have we not played as brother and sister +together, and do not times like this draw closer the bonds of +friendship? Thou canst not know how lonesome and dreary my life has +been of late. I pine for a voice from the world without. Thou wilt +indeed be welcome, good Reuben."</p> +<p>Gertrude was busying herself with the tedious preparations for +obtaining a light, and being skilful by long practice, she soon had +a lamp burning in the room; and in a few minutes more, by the +diligent use of hammer and chisel, Reuben forced open the little +rough door which long ago had been contrived between the boys of +the two households, and which had not been done away with +altogether, although it had been securely fastened up by the orders +of Madam Mason when she found her son Frederick taking too great +advantage of this extra means of egress from the house, though she +had other motives than the one alleged for the checking of the +great intimacy which was growing up between her children and those +of her neighbour.</p> +<p>The door once opened, Reuben quickly stood within the attic, and +looked around him with wondering and admiring eyes.</p> +<p>"Nay, but it is a very bower of beauty!" he cried, and then he +came forward almost timidly and took Gertrude by the hand, looking +down at her with eyes that spoke eloquently.</p> +<p>"Is this thy nest, thou pretty songbird?" he said. "Had I known, +I should scarce have dared to invade it so boldly."</p> +<p>Gertrude clung to him with an involuntary appeal for protection +that stirred all the manhood within him.</p> +<p>"Ah, Reuben, tell me what it all means!" she cried, "for +methinks that something terrible has happened."</p> +<p>Still holding the little trembling hand in his, Reuben told her +of the peril her brother had been in. He spoke not of Dorcas, not +desiring to pain her more than need be, but he had to say that her +brother was, in a half-drunken state, pursuing some maiden in idle +sport, and that, having been so exposed to contagion, there was +great fear now for him and for his life.</p> +<p>Gertrude listened with pale lips and dilating eyes; her quick +apprehension filled up more of the details than Reuben desired.</p> +<p>"It was Dorcas he was pursuing," she cried, recoiling and +putting up her hands to her face; "I know it! I know it! O wretched +boy! why does he cover us with shame like this? I marvel that thou +canst look kindly upon me, Reuben. Am I not his most unhappy +sister?"</p> +<p>"Thou art the sweetest, purest maiden my eyes ever beheld," +answered Reuben, his words seeming to leap from his lips against +his own will. Then commanding himself, he added more quietly, "But +he is like to be punished for his sins, and it may be the lesson +learned will be of use to him all his life. It will be a marvel if +he escapes the distemper, having been so exposed, and that whilst +inflamed by drink, which, so far as I may judge, enfeebles the +tissues, and causes a man to fall a victim far quicker than if he +had been sober, and a temperate liver."</p> +<p>"My poor brother!" cried Gertrude, beneath her breath. "Oh, what +has my father done with him? What will become of him?"</p> +<p>"Your father brought him hither at once--not within the house, +but into one of his old offices where in past times his goods were +wont to be stored. He has now gone to consult with your mother +whether or not the poor lad should be admitted within the house or +not. If your mother will not have him here, he will remain for a +while where he is; and if he falls sick, he will be removed to the +pest house."</p> +<p>"Oh no! no! no!" cried Gertrude vehemently, "not whilst he has a +sister to nurse him--a roof, however humble, to shelter him. Let +him not die amongst strangers! I fear not the infection. I will go +to him this minute. Already I have thought it were better to die of +the plague, doing one's duty towards the sick and suffering, than +to keep shut up away from all. They shall not take him away to die +amidst those scenes of horror of which one has heard. Even my +mother will be brave, methinks, for Frederick's sake. I trow she +will open her doors to him."</p> +<p>"That is what your father thinks. It may be that even now he is +bringing him within. But, sweet mistress, if Frederick comes here, +it may well be that in another week this house will be straitly +shut up, with the red cross upon the door, and the watchman before +the portal day and night. That is why I have come hither at once, +to open the little door between our houses; for I cannot bear the +thought of knowing naught that befalls you for a whole long month. +And since, though my work takes me daily into what men call the +peril of infection, I am sound and bring no hurt to others, I am +not afraid that I shall bring hurt to thee. I could not bear to +have no tidings of how it fared with thee. Thou wilt not chide me +for making this provision. It came into my head so soon as I knew +that peril of infection was like to come within these walls. We +must not let thee be shut quite away from us. We may be able to +give thee help, and in times of peril neighbours must play a +neighbourly part."</p> +<p>The tears stood in Gertrude's eyes. She was thinking of the +unkindly fashion in which her mother had spoken of late years of +these neighbours, and contrasting with that the way in which they +were now coming forward to claim the neighbour's right to help in +time of threatened trouble. The tears were very near her eyes as +she made answer:</p> +<p>"O Reuben, how good thou art! But if our house be infected, how +can it be possible for thee to come and go? Would it not be a wrong +against those who lay down these laws for the preservation of the +city?"</p> +<p>Then Reuben explained to her that, though the magistrates and +aldermen were forced to draw up a strict code for the ordering of +houses where infection was, these same personages themselves, +together with doctors, examiners, and searchers of houses, had +perforce to go from place to place; yet by using all needful and +wise precautions, both for themselves and others, they had +reasonable hope of doing nothing to spread the contagion. Reuben, +as a searcher under his father, had again and again been in +infected houses, and brought face to face with persons dying of the +malady; yet so far he had escaped, and by adopting the wise +precautions ordered at the outset by their father, no case of +illness had appeared so far amongst them. If every person who could +be of use excluded himself from all chance of contagion, there +would be none to order the affairs of the unhappy city, or to carry +relief to the sufferers. There must be perforce some amongst them +who were ready to run the risk in order to assist the sufferers, +and they of the household of James Harmer were all of one mind in +this.</p> +<p>"We do naught that is rash. We have herbs and drugs and all +those things which the doctors think to be of use; and thou shalt +have a supply of all such anon--if indeed thy mother be not already +amply provided. But I cannot bear for thee to be straitly shut up; +I must be able to see how it goes with thee. And should it be that +thou wert thyself a victim, thou shalt not lack the best nursing +that all London can give."</p> +<p>She looked up at him with fearless eyes.</p> +<p>"Do men ever recover when once attacked by the plague?"</p> +<p>"Yes, many do--though nothing like the number who die. Amongst +our nurses and bearers of the dead are numbers who have had the +distemper and have survived it. They go by the name of the 'safe +people.' Yet some have been known to take it again, though I think +these cases are rare."</p> +<p>"If Frederick takes it, will he be like to live?" asked +Gertrude; and Reuben was silent.</p> +<p>Both knew that the unhappy young man had long been given to +drunkenness and debauchery, and that his constitution was +undermined by his excesses. The girl pressed her hands together and +was silent; but after a few moments' pause she looked up at Reuben, +and said, "You have given me courage by this visit. Come again +soon. I must to my mother now. I must ask her what I can do to help +her and my unhappy brother."</p> +<p>"Take this paper and this packet before you go," said Reuben. +"The one contains directions for the better lodging and tending of +the sick. The other contains prepared herbs which are useful as +preventives--tormentil, valerian, zedoary, angelica, and so forth; +but I take it that pure vinegar is as good an antidote to infection +as anything one can find. Keep some always about you. Let your +kerchief be always steeped in it. Then be of a cheerful courage, +and take food regularly, and in sufficient quantities. All these +things help to keep the body in health; and though the most healthy +may fall victims, yet methinks that it is those who are underfed or +weakened by disease or dissipation upon whom the malady fastens +with most virulent strength. I will come anon and learn what is +betiding. Farewell for the nonce, sweet mistress, and may God be +with you."</p> +<p>Greatly cheered and strengthened by this unexpected interview, +Gertrude descended to the lower part of the house in search of her +mother, and found her, with her face tied up in a cloth soaked in +vinegar, bending over the unhappy Frederick, who lay with a face as +white as death upon a couch in one of the lower rooms.</p> +<p>To her credit be it said, the motherhood in the Master Builder's +wife had triumphed over her natural terror at the thought of the +infection. When her husband had brought her the news that Frederick +was in one of the old shop buildings, awaiting her permission +(after what had occurred) to enter the house; when she knew that +should he sicken of the plague he would be taken away to the pest +house to be tended there, and as she believed assuredly to die, she +burst into wild weeping, and declared that she would risk +everything sooner than that should happen. So it had been speedily +arranged that the unhappy youth should be provided with a vinegar +and herb bath and a complete change of raiment out there in the +disused shop, and that then he should come into the house, his +mother being willing to take the risk rather than banish him from +home.</p> +<p>This had been quickly done, under the direction of good James +Harmer, who as one of the examiners of health was well qualified to +give counsel in the matter. He also told his neighbour that should +the young man be attacked by the plague, he would strive if +possible to gain for him the services of his sister-in-law, Dinah +Morse, who was one of the most tender and skilful nurses now +working amongst the sick. She was always busy; but so fell was the +action of the plague poison, that her patients died daily, despite +her utmost care, and she was constantly moving from house to house, +sometimes leaving none alive behind her in a whole domicile. A +certain number recovered, and these she made shift to visit daily +for a while; but her main work lay amongst the dying, whose friends +too often left them in terror so soon as the fatal marks appeared +which bespoke them sickening of the terrible distemper.</p> +<p>The Master Builder received this promise with gratitude, having +heard gruesome stories of the evil practices of many of those who +called themselves plague nurses, but who really sought their own +gain, and often left the patient alone and untended in his agony, +whilst they coolly ransacked the house from which the other inmates +had often contrived to flee before it was shut up.</p> +<p>Frederick, utterly unnerved and overcome by the horror of the +thing which had befallen him, looked already almost like one +stricken to death. His mother was striving to get him to swallow +some of the medicines which were considered as valuable antidotes, +and to sip at a cup of so-called plague water--a rather costly +preparation much in vogue amongst the wealthier citizens at that +time. But the nausea of the horrible smell of the plague patient +was still upon him, sickening him to the refusal of all medicine or +food, and to Gertrude's eyes he looked as though he might well be +smitten already.</p> +<p>Her father was the only person who had eyes to notice her +approach, and he strode forward and took her by the hands as though +to keep her away.</p> +<p>"Child, thou must not come here. Thy brother has been in a +terrible danger--half strangled by a creature raving in the +delirium of the distemper. It may be death to approach him even +now. I would have had thy mother keep away. Come not thou near to +him. Let us not increase the peril which besets us."</p> +<p>Gertrude stood quite still, neither resisting her father, nor +yet yielding to the pressure which would have forced her from the +room.</p> +<p>"Dear sir," she said, with dutiful reverence, "I must fain +submit to thee in this thing. Yet I prithee keep me not from my +brother in the hour of his extremity. Methinks that a more terrible +thing than the plague itself is the cruel fear which it inspires, +whereby families are rent asunder, and the sick are neglected and +deserted in the hour of their utmost need. If indeed Frederick +should fall a victim, this house will be straitly shut up; and if +it be true what men say, the infection will spread through it, do +what we will to keep it away. Then what can it matter whether the +risk be a little more or less? Is it not better that I should be +with my mother and my brother, than that I should seek my own +safety by shutting myself up apart from all, a readier prey to +grief and terror? Methinks I should the sooner fall ill thus shut +away from all. Prithee let me take my place beside Frederick, and +relieve my mother when she be weary; so do I think it will be best +for me and her."</p> +<p>The father's face quivered with emotion as he took his daughter +in his arms and kissed her tenderly.</p> +<p>"Thou shalt do as thou wilt, my sweet child," he said. "These +indeed are fearful days, and it may be that happier are they who +let their heart be ruled by love instead of by fear. Fear has +become a cruel thing, from what men tell us. Thou shalt do thy +desire. Yet methinks thy brother has scarce deserved this grace at +thy hands."</p> +<p>"Let us not think of that," said Gertrude, with a look of pain +in her eyes; "let us only think of his peril, and of the terrible +retribution which may fall upon him. God grant that he may find +repentance and peace at the last!"</p> +<p>"Amen!" said the Master Builder, with some solemnity, thinking +of the fashion in which his son's time had been spent of late, and +of the very escapade which had brought this evil upon him.</p> +<p>All that night mother and sister watched beside the bed of the +unhappy young man, who moaned and tossed, and too often broke into +blasphemous railings at the fate which had overtaken him. He gave +himself up for lost from the first, and having no hope or real +belief as regards the future life, was full of darkness and +bitterness of heart. He would not so much as listen when Gertrude +would have spoken to him of the Saviour's love for sinners, but +answered with mocking and profane words which made her heart die +within her.</p> +<p>Towards morning he fell into a restless sleep, from which he +wakened in a high fever, not knowing any of those about him. The +father coming in, went towards him with a strange look in his eyes, +and after bending over him a few seconds, turned a haggard face +towards his wife and daughter, saying:</p> +<p>"May the Lord have mercy upon us! he has the tokens upon +him!"</p> +<p>Instantly the mother uttered a scream of lamentation, and fell +half senseless into her husband's arms; whilst Gertrude stood +suddenly up with a white face and said:</p> +<p>"Let me take word to our neighbours next door. Master Harmer is +an examiner. We must needs report it to him; and they will tell us +what we must do, and give us help if any can."</p> +<p>"Ay, that they will," answered the Master Builder, with some +emotion in his voice. "Go, girl, and report that the distemper has +broken out in the house, and that we submit ourselves to the orders +of the authorities for all such as be infected."</p> +<p>Gertrude sped upstairs. She preferred that method of transit to +the one by the street door. But she had no need to go further than +her attic; for upon opening the door she saw two figures in the +room, and instantly recognized Reuben and his sister Janet. The +latter came forward with outstretched hands, and would have taken +Gertrude into her embrace, but that she drew back and said in a +voice of warning:</p> +<p>"Take heed, Janet; touch me not. I have passed the night by the +bedside of my brother, and he is stricken with the plague!"</p> +<p>"So soon?" quoth Reuben, quickly; whilst Janet would not be +denied her embrace, saying softly:</p> +<p>"I have no longer a fear of that distemper myself, for I have +been with it erstwhile, and my aunt Dinah tells me that I have had +a very mild attack of the same ill, and that I am not like to take +it again."</p> +<p>"If indeed Frederick is smitten, we must take precautions to +close the house," said Reuben. "Is there aught you would wish to do +ere giving the notice to my father?"</p> +<p>"Nay, I was on my way to him," said Gertrude, speaking with the +calmness of one upon whom the expected blow has at last fallen. +"Let what must be done be done quickly. Can we have a nurse? for +methinks Frederick must needs have tendance more skilled than any +we can give him. But let it not be one of those women"--Gertrude +paused and shuddered, as though she knew not how to finish her +sentence.</p> +<p>"Trust me to do all for you that lies in my power," answered +Reuben, in a voice of emotion; "and never feel shut up altogether +from the world; even when the outer door be locked and guarded by a +watchman. I have already hung a bell within our house, and the cord +is tied here upon this nail. In any time of need you have but to +ring it, and be sure that the summons will be speedily +answered."</p> +<p>A mist rose before Gertrude's eyes and a lump in her throat. She +pressed Janet's hand, and said to Reuben in a husky voice:</p> +<p>"I have no words today. Some day I will find how to thank you +for all this goodness at such a time."</p> +<p>Before many hours had passed Dinah Morse was installed beside +the sick man. Strong perfumes were burnt in and about his room, and +the terrible tumours which bespoke the poison in his blood were +treated skilfully by poultices and medicaments, applied by one who +thoroughly understood the nature of the disease and the course it +ran.</p> +<p>But from the first it was apparent to a trained eye that the +young man was doomed. There was too much poison in his blood +before, and his constitution was undermined by his reckless and +dissolute life. All that was possible was done to relieve the +sufferings and abate the fever of the patient. One of the best and +most devoted of the doctors who remained courageously at his post +during this terrible time was called in. But he shook his head over +the patient, and bid his parents make up their minds for the +worst.</p> +<p>"You have the best nurse in all London," said Dr. Hooker. "If +skill and care could save him, he would be saved. But I fear me the +poison has spread all over. Be cautious how you approach him, for +he breathes forth death to those who are not inoculated. I would I +could do more for you, but our skill avails little before this +dread scourge."</p> +<p>And so, with looks and words of friendly compassion and +goodwill, the doctor took his departure; and before nightfall +Frederick was called to his last account.</p> +<p>Just as the hour of midnight tolled, a sound of wheels was heard +in the street below, a bell rang, and a lugubrious voice called +out:</p> +<p>"Bring forth your dead! bring forth your dead!"</p> +<p>Directed by Reuben, who was on the alert, the bearers themselves +entered the house and removed the body, wrapped in its linen +swathings, but without a coffin, for by this time there was not +such a thing to be had for love or money; nor could the carts have +contained their loads had each corpse been coffined.</p> +<p>Gertrude alone, from an upper window, saw the body of her +brother laid decently and reverently, under Reuben's direction, in +the ominous-looking vehicle. For the mother of the dead youth was +weeping her heart out in her husband's arms, and was not allowed to +know at what hour nor in what manner her son's body was conveyed +away.</p> +<p>"Will they fling him, with never a prayer, into some great pit +such as I have heard spoken of?" asked Gertrude of Dinah, who stood +beside her at the window, fearful lest she should be overwhelmed by +the horror of it all.</p> +<p>She now drew her gently and tenderly back into the room, whilst +the cart rumbled away upon its mournful errand, and smoothing the +tresses of the girl, and drawing her to rest upon a couch hard by, +she answered:</p> +<p>"Think not of that, dear child. For what does it matter what +befalls the frail mortal body? With whatsoever burial we may be +buried now, we shall rise again at the last day in glory and +immortality! That is what we must think of in these sorrowful +times. We must lift our hearts above the things of this world, and +let our conversation and citizenship be in heaven."</p> +<p>Then the tears gushed out from Gertrude's eyes, and she wept +freely and fully the healing tears of youth.</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. SISTERS OF +MERCY.</a></h2> +<p>"Father, dear father, prithee let me go!"</p> +<p>"What, my child? Have I not lost all but thee? Am I to send thee +forth to thy death in this terrible city, stricken by the hand of +God?"</p> +<p>Into Gertrude's face there crept a wonderful light and +brightness. Her eyes shone with the intensity of her feeling.</p> +<p>"Father," she said, "it is even because I hold the city to be +smitten by God that I ask thy permission to go forth to minister to +the sick and stricken ones. It seems to me as though in my heart a +voice had spoken, saying, 'Go, and I will be with thee.' Father, +listen, I pray thee. I heard that voice first, methought, upon the +terrible night when they came and took Frederick away. When mother +was next laid low, and as I watched beside her, and watched +likewise how Dinah soothed and comforted and assuaged her anguish +of mind and body, the voice in my heart grew ever louder and +louder. Whilst she lived, I knew my place was beside her; but it +has pleased God to take her away. No tie binds me here now. If I +stay, I shall but eat out my heart in fruitless longing, shut into +these walls, and by no means permitted to sally forth. From a +plague-stricken house I may only go to those smitten with the +distemper. Father, let me go! prithee let me go! Dinah will take +me; she will let me be with her. Ask her; she will tell thee."</p> +<p>As the girl made her appeal to her father, the grave-faced, +gentle woman who had remained with this household for nigh fourteen +days stood quietly by. Dinah Morse had not quitted the house since +the day upon which the hapless Frederick had been stricken down by +the fell disease. For hardly had his remains been borne from the +house before the mother fell violently ill of a wasting fever. At +first there were no special indications of the plague in her +malady; but after a week's time these suddenly developed +themselves. From the first she had declared herself smitten by the +distemper, and whether this conviction helped to develop the germs +of the malady none could say. But be that as it might, the dreaded +tokens appeared upon her body at last, and within three days from +that time she lay dead.</p> +<p>All that the kindness of friends and neighbours could avail had +been done. The Harmer family, in particular, had showed so much +attention and sympathy in this trying time, that Gertrude was often +overcome with shame as she recalled in what uncivil fashion they +had been treated by her mother of late years, and how they were now +returning good for evil, just at a time when so many men were +finding themselves forsaken even by their nearest and dearest in +the hour of their affliction.</p> +<p>The whole experience through which she had passed had made a +deep and lasting impression upon Gertrude. She had already watched +two of the beings nearest and dearest to her fall victims to the +dire disease which was raging in the city and laying low its +thousands daily. It seemed to her that there was but one thing to +be done now by those whose circumstances permitted it, and that was +to go forth amid the sick and smitten ones, and do what lay within +human power to mitigate their sufferings, and to afford them the +solace and comfort of feeling that they were not altogether shut +off from the love and sympathy of their fellow men.</p> +<p>"Father," she urged, as she saw that her parent still hesitated, +"what would have become of us without Dinah? What should we have +done had no help come to us in our hour of need? Think of the +hundreds and thousands about us longing for some such tendance and +love as she brought hither to us! What would have become of us had +no kind neighbours befriended us? And are we not bidden to do unto +others as we would have them do unto us in like case?"</p> +<p>"But the risk, my child, the risk!" he urged. "Am I to lose my +last and only stay and solace?"</p> +<p>"Mother died in this house, which is now doubly infected. I was +with her and with Frederick both, and yet I am sound and whole, and +thou also. Why should we so greatly fear, when no man can say who +will be smitten and who will escape? Methinks, perchance, those who +seek to do their duty to the living, as our good neighbours and the +city aldermen and magistrates and doctors are doing, will be +specially protected of God. Father, let me go! Truly I feel that I +have been bidden. Here I should fret myself ill in fruitless +longing. Let me go forth with Dinah. Let me obey the call which +methinks God has sent me. Truly I think I shall be the safest so. +And who can say in these days, take what precaution he will, that +he may not already have upon him the dreaded tokens? If we must +die, let us at least die doing good to our fellow men. Did not our +Lord say to those who visited the sick in their necessity, 'Ye have +done it unto me'?"</p> +<p>"Child," said the Master Builder, in a much-moved voice, "it +shall be as you desire. Go; and may the blessing of God go with +you. I will offer myself for any post, as searcher or examiner, +which may be open, if indeed I may go forth from this house ere the +twenty-eight days be expired. If Dinah will take you, and if the +Harmers will let you both sally forth from the house, I will not +keep you back. It may be indeed that God has called you; and if so, +may He keep and bless you both."</p> +<p>Father and daughter embraced each other tenderly.</p> +<p>In those times the shadow of death was so very apparent that no +one knew from day to day what might befall him ere the morrow. +Strong men, leaving their homes apparently in their usual health, +would sink down in the streets an hour afterwards, and perhaps die +before the very eyes of the passersby, none of whom would be found +willing so much as to approach the sufferer with a kind word. Men +would hasten by with vinegar-steeped cloths held closely over their +faces; and later on some bearer with a cart or barrow would be sent +to carry away the corpse and fling it into the nearest pit, of +which there was now an ever-increasing number in the various +parishes.</p> +<p>It will well be understood that in such days as these the need +for nurses for the sick was terribly great. The majority of those +so-called nurses were women of the lowest class, whose motive was +personal gain, not a loving desire to mitigate the sufferings of +the stricken.</p> +<p>Whether all the dismal tales told by the miserable beings shut +up in their houses, and left to the mercy of watchmen and nurses, +were true may be well open to doubt. Many poor creatures became +half demented by terror, and scarcely knew what they said. But +enough was from time to time substantiated to prove how very +terrible were the scenes which sometimes went on within these +sealed abodes; and more than once some careless watchman or +thieving and neglectful nurse had been whipped through the streets +for misdemeanours brought home to them by the authorities.</p> +<p>But now things were growing too pressing for individual cases to +attract much attention. Do as men would to cope with the evil, the +spread of the fell disease was something terrible to witness. Up +till quite recently, the cases in the southern and eastern parishes +and within the city walls had been few as compared with those in +the north and west; but now the scourge seemed to have fallen upon +the city itself, and the resources of the authorities were taxed to +the uttermost.</p> +<p>The Harmer family welcomed back Dinah with joy; but when they +heard of Gertrude's resolve, they looked grave and awed. Then Janet +stepped forward suddenly, and addressing her father, said:</p> +<p>"Dear father, what Gertrude has desired for herself is nothing +less than what I myself have often wished. Let me go forth also to +tend the sick. If our neighbour can dare to let his only child do +this thing, surely thou wilt spare me. Every day brings terrible +tales of the woe and the pressing need of hundreds and thousands +around us. Let me go, too. I am like to be safer than many, seeing +that I may already have been touched by the distemper, though I +knew it not."</p> +<p>The example of his neighbour was not without effect upon the +worthy citizen. Moreover, it seemed to him that those who went +about their daily duties, and shrank not from contact with the sick +when it was needful, fared better than many who shut themselves up +at home, and feared to look forth even from their windows. As an +examiner of health he was frequently brought into contact with the +sick, and his son even oftener, and yet both kept their health +wonderfully. True, there were many amongst those who filled these +perilous offices who did fall victims, but not more in proportion +than others who shunned all contact with peril. Steady nerves and a +stout heart seemed as good preventives as any antidote; and the +physicians who laboured ceaselessly and devotedly amongst the +stricken ones seemed seldom to suffer. Moreover, after all these +weeks of terror, the minds of persons of all degrees were growing +used to the sense of uncertainty and peril, and Janet's request +aroused no very strenuous opposition from any member of her +family.</p> +<p>"She shall please herself," said her father, after some +discussion on the subject. "God has been very merciful to us so +far. We will put our trust in Him during all this time. If the girl +has had a call, let her do her duty, and He will he with her."</p> +<p>That night the three devoted women slept beneath the roof of the +bridge house. Upon the morrow they sallied forth to their strange +task, but were told by the master of the house that they might +return thither at any time they chose, provided they took the +prescribed precautions with regard to their clothing before they +entered.</p> +<p>The sun was blazing hotly down on the streets as they opened the +door to go forth. Sultry weather had now set in, no rain fell +through the long, scorching days, and the heat was a terrible +factor in the spread of the epidemic. Dinah, who had been nigh upon +fourteen days shut up in one house, looked about her with grave, +watchful eyes. Already she saw a great difference in the look of +the bridge. Four houses were marked with the ominous red cross; and +the tide of traffic, bearing the stream of persons out from the +stricken city, had almost ceased. Bills of health were difficult to +obtain now. The country villages round were loth to receive inmates +of London. All roads were watched, and many hapless stragglers sent +back again who had thought to escape from the city of destruction. +Myriads had already left, and others were still flying--they could +make shift to escape. But the continuous stream had ceased to cross +the bridge. Foot passengers were few, and all walked in the middle +of the road, avoiding contact with one another. Many kept a +handkerchief or cloth pressed to their faces. Strangers eyed each +other askance, none knowing that the other might not be already +sickening of the disease. Between the stones of the streets blades +of grass were beginning to grow up. Dinah pointed to these tokens +and gave a little sigh.</p> +<p>Just before they turned off from the bridge a flying figure was +seen approaching, and Janet exclaimed quickly:</p> +<p>"Why, it is Dorcas!"</p> +<p>Since her fright of a fortnight back, Dorcas had remained an +inmate of Lady Scrope's house by her own desire. Although she knew +that poor Frederick would annoy her no more, she had come to have a +horror of the very streets themselves. She had never forgotten the +apparition of that white-robed figure, clad in what seemed like its +death shroud; and as Lady Scrope was by no means ill pleased to +keep her young maiden by night as well as by day, her father was +glad that she should be saved the risk even of the short walk to +and fro each day.</p> +<p>But here she was, flying homewards as though there were wings to +her feet; and she would almost have passed them in her haste, had +not Janet laid hold of her arm and spoken her name aloud. Then she +gave a little cry of relief and happiness, and turning upon her +aunt, she cried:</p> +<p>"Ah, how glad I am to see thee! I was praying thou mightst still +be at home. Lady Scrope has been suddenly seized by some malady, I +know not what. Everyone in the house but the old deaf man and his +wife has fled. Three servants left before, afraid of passing to and +fro. The rest only waited for the first alarm to seize whatever +they could lay hands upon and fly. I could not stop them. I did +what I could, but methinks they would have rifled the house had it +not been that the mistress, ill as she was, rose from her bed and +chased them forth. They feared her more than ever when they thought +she had the plague upon her. And now I have come forth for help; +for I am alone with her in the house, and I know not which way to +turn.</p> +<p>"Ah, good aunt, come back with me, I prithee. I am at my wit's +end with the fear of it all."</p> +<p>Without a moment's delay the party turned towards the house in +Allhallowes, and speedily found themselves at the grim-looking +portal, which Dorcas opened with her key. The house felt cool and +fresh after the glare of the hot streets. Although by no means a +stately edifice outside, it was roomy and commodious within, and +the broad oak staircase was richly carpeted--a thing in those days +quite unusual save in very magnificent houses. Doors stood open, +and there were traces of confusion in some of the rooms; but Dorcas +was already hurrying her companions up the stairs, and the silence +of the house was broken by the sound of a shrill voice demanding in +imperious tones who were coming and what was their business.</p> +<p>"Fear not, mistress, it is I!" cried Dorcas, springing forward +in advance of the others.</p> +<p>She disappeared within an open door, and her companions heard +the sharp tones of the answering voice saying:</p> +<p>"Tush, child! who talks of fear? It is only fools who fear! Dost +think I am scared by this bogey talk of plague? A colic, child--a +colic; that is all I ail. I have always suffered thus in hot +weather all my life. Plague, forsooth! I could wish I had had it, +that I might have given it as a parting benediction to those knaves +and hussies who thought to rob me when I lay a-dying, as many a +woman has been robbed before! I only hope they may sicken of pure +fright, as has happened to many a fool before now! Ha! ha! ha! how +they did run! They thought I was tied by the leg for once. But I +had them--I had them! I warrant me they did not take the worth of a +sixpence from my house!"</p> +<p>The chuckling laugh which followed bespoke a keen sense of +enjoyment. Certainly this high-spirited old lady was not much like +the ordinary plague patient. Dinah knocked lightly at the door, and +entered, the two girls following her out of sheer curiosity.</p> +<p>"Heyday! and who are these?" cried Lady Scrope.</p> +<p>That redoubtable old dame was sitting up in bed, her great +frilled nightcap tied beneath her chin, her hawk's eyes full of +life and fire, although her face was very pinched and blue, and +there were lines about her brow and lips which told the experienced +eyes of the sick nurse that she was suffering considerable +pain.</p> +<p>Dinah explained their sudden appearance, and asked if they could +be of any service. The old lady gazed at them all in turn, and her +face relaxed as she broke into rather a grim laugh.</p> +<p>"Plague nurses, by all the powers! Certes, this is very pretty +company! If all that is said be true, ye be the worst harpies of +all. I had better have my own minions to rob me than be left to +your tender mercies. Three of you, too! Verily, 'wheresoever the +carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together,'" and the +patient laughed again, as though tickled at her own grim +pleasantry.</p> +<p>Dorcas would have expostulated and explained and apologized, but +her mistress cut her short with a sharp tap of her fan.</p> +<p>"Little fool, hold thy peace! as though I didn't know an honest +face when I see it!</p> +<p>"Come, good people, look me well over, and you'll soon see I +have none of the tokens. It is but a colic, such as I am well used +to at this season of the year; but in these days let a body's +finger but ache, and all the world runs helter skelter this way and +that, calling out, 'The plague! the plague!' The plague, forsooth! +as though I had not lived through a score of such scares of plague. +If men would but listen to me, there need never be any more plagues +in London. But the fools will not hear wisdom."</p> +<p>"What is your remedy, madam?" asked Dinah, who saw very clearly +that the old lady had gauged her symptoms aright; and although she +had alarmed her attendants by a partial collapse an hour before, +was mending now, and had no symptom of the distemper upon her.</p> +<p>"My remedy is too simple for fools. Fill up every well in +London--which is just a poison trap--and drink only New River +water, and make every house draw its supply from thence, and we +shall soon cease to hear of the plague! That's my remedy; but when +I tell men so, they gibe and jeer and call me fool for my pains. +Fools every one of them! If it would only please Providence to burn +their city about their ears and fill up all the old wells with the +rubbish, you would soon see an end of these scares of plague. Tush! +if men will drink rank poison they deserve to have the plague--that +is all I have to say to them."</p> +<p>Such an idea as this was certainly far in advance of the times, +and it was small wonder that Lady Scrope found no serious listeners +when she propounded her scheme. Dinah did not profess to have an +opinion on such a wide question. Her duties were with the sick. +Others must seek for the cause of the outbreak. That was not the +province of women.</p> +<p>Something in her way of moving about and performing her little +offices pleased the fancy of the capricious old woman, as did also +the aspect of the two girls, who were assisting Dorcas to set the +room to rights after the confusion of the morning, when the +mistress had suddenly been taken with a violent colic, which had +turned her blue and rigid, and had convinced her household that she +was taken for death, and that by a seizure of the prevailing +malady.</p> +<p>She asked Dinah of herself and her plans, and nodded her head +with approval as she heard that the two girls were to attend the +sick likewise under her care.</p> +<p>"Good girls, brave girls--I like to see courage in old and young +alike. If I were young myself, I vow I would go with you. It's a +fine set of experiences you will have.</p> +<p>"Young woman, I like you. I shall want to hear of you and your +work. Listen to me. This house is my own. I have no one with me +here save the child Dorcas, and I don't think she is of the stuff +that would be afraid; and I take good care of her, so that she is +in no peril. Come back hither to me whenever you can. This house +shall be open to you. You can come hither for rest and food. It is +better than to go to and fro where there be so many young folks as +in the place you come from. Bring the girls with you, too. They be +good, brave maidens, and deserve a place of rest. I have victualled +my house well. I have enough and to spare. I like to hear the news, +and none can know more in these days than a plague nurse.</p> +<p>"Come, children, what say you to this? Go to and fro amongst the +sick; but come home hither and tell me all you have done. What say +you? Against rules for persons to pass from infected houses into +clean ones? Bah! in times like these what can men hope to do by +their rules and regulations? Plague nurses and plague doctors are +under no rules. They must needs go hither and thither wherever they +are called. If I fear not for myself, you need not fear for me. I +shall never die of the plague; I have had my fortune told me too +many times to fear that! I shall never die in my bed--that they all +agree to tell me. Have no fears for me; I have none for myself.</p> +<p>"Make this house your home, you three good women. I am not a +good woman myself, but I know the kind when I see them. They are +rare, but all the more valued for that. Come, I say; you will not +find a better place!"</p> +<p>Dorcas clasped her hands in rapture and looked from one to the +other. The fear of the distemper was small in comparison with the +pleasure of the thought of seeing her sister and aunt and friend at +intervals, now that she was so completely shut up in this lonely +house, and that the servants had all fled never to return.</p> +<p>It was just such an eccentric and capricious whim as was +eminently characteristic of Lady Scrope. She had had nothing but +her own whims to guide her through life, and she indulged them at +her pleasure. She had taken a fancy to Dinah from the first moment. +She knew all about the family of her young companion, from having +listened to Dorcas's chatter when in the mood. Keenly interested in +the spread of the plague, which had driven away all her fashionable +friends, she was eager for news about it, and the more ghastly the +tales that were told, the more did she seem to revel in them. To +have news first hand from those who actually tended the sick seemed +to her a capital plan; and Dinah recognized at once the advantage +of having admittance for herself and the two girls to this solitary +and commodious house, where rest and refreshment could be readily +obtained, and where their coming and going would not be likely to +be observed or to hurt any one.</p> +<p>"If your ladyship really means it--" she began.</p> +<p>"My ladyship generally does mean what she says--as Dorcas will +tell you if you ask her," was the rather short, sharp reply. "Say +no more, say no more; I hate chitter-chatter and shilly-shally. The +thing's settled, and there's an end of it. Go your ways, go your +ways; I'm none too ill for Dorcas to look to, now that the little +fool is assured that I haven't got the plague. But you may have +brought it here yourself, so you are bound in duty to come back and +look after us the first moment you can. Go along with you all, and +bring me word what London is doing, and what the streets are like. +They say there be courts down in the worst parts of the town where +not a living person remains, and where there be none left to give +notice of the deaths. You go and bring me word about all that.</p> +<p>"A fine thing truly for our grand city! The living soon will not +be enough to bury the dead! Go! go! go! I shall wait and watch for +your return. None will interfere with anything that goes on in my +house. You can come and go at will. Dorcas will give you a key. I +will trust you. You have a face to be trusted."</p> +<p>"It is quite true--nobody ever dares interfere with her," said +Dorcas, as she led the way downstairs. "They think she is a witch; +and truly, methinks she is the strangest woman that ever drew +breath! But I shall love her for what she has said and done today. +I pray you be not long in coming again. None can want you much more +sorely than I do!"</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. IN THE +DOOMED CITY.</a></h2> +<p>The clocks in the church steeples were chiming the hour of ten +as Dinah and her two companions started forth a second time upon +their errand of mercy and charity. It was an hour at which in +ordinary times all the city should be alive, the streets filled +with passersby, wagons lumbering along with heavy freights, fine +folks in their coaches or on horseback picking their way from place +to place, and shopmen or their apprentices crying their wares from +open doorways.</p> +<p>Now the streets were almost empty. The shops were almost all +shut up. Here and there an open bake house was to be seen, orders +having been issued that these places were to remain available for +the public, come what might; and women or trembling servant maids +were to be seen going to and fro with their loads of bread or dough +for baking.</p> +<p>But each person looked askance at the other. Neighbours were +afraid to pause to exchange greetings, and hurried away from all +contact with one another; and children breaking away from their +mothers' sides were speedily called back, and chidden for their +temerity.</p> +<p>Some of the churches stood wide open, and persons were seen to +hurry in, lock themselves for a few minutes into separate pews, and +pour out their souls in supplication. Often the sound of +lamentation and weeping was heard to issue from these buildings. At +certain hours of the day such of the clergy as were not scared away +through fear of infection, or who were not otherwise occupied +amongst the sick, would come in and address the persons gathered +there, or read the daily office of prayer; but although at first +these services had been well attended--people flocking to the +churches as though to take sanctuary there--the widely-increased +mortality and the fearful spread of the distemper had caused a +panic throughout the city. The magistrates had issued warnings +against the assembling of persons together in the same building, +and the congregations were themselves so wasted and decimated by +death and disease that each week saw fewer and fewer able to +attend.</p> +<p>From every steeple in the city the bells tolled ceaselessly for +the dead. But it was already whispered that soon they would toll no +more, for the deaths were becoming past all count, and there might +likely enough be soon no one left to toll.</p> +<p>At one open place through which Dinah led her companions, a tall +man, strangely habited, and with a great mass of untrimmed hair and +beard, was addressing a wild harangue to a ring of breathless +listeners. In vivid and graphic words he was summing up the +wickedness and perversity of the city, and telling how that the +wrath of God had descended upon it, and that He would no longer +stay His hand. The day of mercy had gone by; the day of vengeance +had come--the day of reckoning and of punishment. The innocent must +now perish with the guilty, and he warned each one of his hearers +to prepare to meet his Judge.</p> +<p>The man was gazing up overhead with eyes that seemed ready to +start from their sockets. Every face in the crowd grew pale with +horror. The man seemed rooted to the spot with a ghastly terror. +They followed the direction of his gaze, but could see nothing save +the quivering sunshine above them.</p> +<p>Suddenly one in the crowd gave a shriek which those who heard it +never forgot, and fell to the ground like one dead.</p> +<p>With a wild, terrible laugh the preacher gathered up his long +gown and fled onwards, and the crowd scattered helter skelter, +terrified and desperate. None seemed to have a thought for the +miserable man smitten down before their very eyes. All took care to +avoid approaching him in their hasty flight. He lay with his face +upturned to the steely, pitiless summer sky. A woman coming +furtively along with a market basket upon her arm suddenly set up a +dolorous cry at sight of him, and setting down her basket ran +towards him, the tears streaming down her face.</p> +<p>"Why, it is none other than good John Harwood and his wife +Elizabeth!" cried Janet, making a forward step. "Oh, poor +creatures, poor creatures! Good aunt, prithee let us do what we can +for their relief. I knew not the man, his face was so changed, but +I know him now. They are very honest, good folks, and have worked +for us ere now. They live hard by, if so be they have not changed +their lodgings. Can we do nothing to help them?"</p> +<p>"We will do what we can," said Dinah. "Remember, my children, +all that I have bidden you do when approaching a stricken person. +Be not rash, neither be over-much affrighted. The Lord has +preserved me, and methinks He will preserve you, too."</p> +<p>With that she stepped forward and laid a hand upon the shoulder +of the poor woman, who was weeping copiously over her husband, and +calling him by every name she could think of, though he lay rigid +with half-open eyes and heeded her not.</p> +<p>"Good friend," said Dinah, in her quiet, commanding fashion, "it +is of no avail thus to weep and cry. We must get your goodman +within doors, and tend him there. See, there is a man with a +handcart over yonder. Go call him, and bid him come to our help. We +must not let your goodman lie out here in the streets in this hot +sunshine."</p> +<p>"God bless you! God bless you!" cried the poor distracted woman, +unspeakably thankful for any help at a time when neighbours and +friends were wont alike to flee in terror from any stricken person. +"But alas and woe is me! Tell me, is this the plague?"</p> +<p>"I fear so," answered Dinah, who had bent over the smitten man; +"but go quickly and do as I have said. There be some amongst the +sick who recover. Lose not heart at the outset, but trust in God, +and do all that thou art bidden."</p> +<p>The woman ran quickly, and the man, who was indeed one of those +forlorn creatures who, for a livelihood, were even willing to scour +the streets and remove from thence those that were stricken down by +death as they went their way amongst their fellows, came with her +at her request, and lifting her husband into his cart, wheeled him +away towards a poor alley where lay her home.</p> +<p>As she turned into it she looked at the three women who +followed, and said:</p> +<p>"God have mercy upon us! I would not have you adventure +yourselves here. There be but three houses in all the street where +the distemper has not come, and of those, mine, which was one, must +now be shut up. Lord have mercy upon us indeed, else we be all dead +men!"</p> +<p>Dinah paused for a brief moment, and looked at her young +charges.</p> +<p>"My children," she said, "needs must that I go where the need is +so great. But bethink you a moment if ye have strength and wish to +follow. I know not what sad and terrible sights we may have to +encounter. Think ye that ye can bear them? Have ye the strength to +go forward? If not, I would have you go back ere you have reached +the contamination."</p> +<p>Janet looked at Gertrude, and Gertrude looked at Janet; but +though there was great seriousness and awe in their faces, there +was no fear. Gertrude had gone through so much already within the +walls of her home that she had no fear greater than that of +remaining in helpless idleness there, alone with her own thoughts +and memories. As for Janet, she had much of the nature of her +aunt--much of that eager, intense sympathy and compassion for the +sick and suffering which has induced women in all ages to go forth +in times of dire need, and risk their lives for their stricken and +afflicted brethren.</p> +<p>So after one glance of mutual comprehension and sympathy, they +both answered in one breath:</p> +<p>"No, we will not turn back. We will go with you. Where the need +is sorest, there would we be, too."</p> +<p>"God bless you! God bless you for angels of mercy!" sobbed the +poor woman, who heard their words, and knowing both Dinah and +Janet, understood something of the situation, "for we be perishing +like sheep here in this place, shut away from all, and with never a +nurse to come nigh us. There be some rough fellows placed outside +the houses to see that none go in or out, and perchance they do +their best to find nurses; but at such a time as this it is small +wonder if ofttimes none are to be found. And some they have brought +are worse than none. The Lord protect us from the tender mercies of +such!"</p> +<p>The narrow court into which they now turned was cool in +comparison with the sunny street; but there was nothing refreshing +in the coolness, for fumes of every sort exhaled from the houses, +and at the far end there burned a fire of resinous pine logs, the +smoke from which, when it rolled down the court, was almost +choking.</p> +<p>"They say it will check the spread of the distemper to the +streets beyond," said the woman, "but methinks it does as much harm +as good. If the Lord help us not, we be all dead men. The cart took +away a score or more of corpses last night. Pray Heaven it take not +away my poor husband tonight!"</p> +<p>The bearer of the handcart stopped at the door indicated by the +woman, and lifted the stricken man in his arms. It was one of the +very few doors all down that street which did not bear the ominous +red cross.</p> +<p>As Gertrude looked up and down the court her heart sank within +her for pity. The houses were closed. Watchers lounged at the +doors, drinking and smoking and jesting together, being by this +time recklessly and brutally hardened to their office. They knew +not from day to day when their own turn might come; but this +knowledge seemed to have an evil rather than a sobering effect upon +them.</p> +<p>The better sort of watchmen were employed, as a rule, to keep +the better sort of houses. When these crowded courts and alleys +were attacked, the authorities had to send whom they could rather +than whom they would. Indefatigable and courageously as they +worked, the magnitude of the calamity was such that it taxed their +resources to the utmost; and had it not been for the bountiful +supplies of money sent in by charitable people, from the king +downwards, for the relief of the city in this time of dire need, +thousands must have perished from actual want, as well as those who +fell victims to the plague itself. Yet do as these brave and +devoted men could, the sufferings of the poor at this time were +terrible.</p> +<p>As the sound of voices was heard in the street below, windows +were thrown up, and heads protruded with more or less of caution. +From one of the windows thus thrown up there issued a lamentable +wailing, and a woman with a white, wild face cried out in tones of +passionate entreaty:</p> +<p>"Help! help! help! good people. Ah, if that be a nurse, let her +come hither. There be five dying and two dead in the house, and +none but me to tend them, and methinks I am stricken to the +death!"</p> +<p>"Janet," said Dinah, with a searching glance at her niece, +"methinks I must needs answer that cry. Go with this good woman, +and do what thou canst for her husband. Thou dost know what is best +to be done. I will come to thee anon; but thou wilt not fear to be +thus left? There is but one sick in this house. The need is sorer +elsewhere."</p> +<p>"Go, I will do my best. At least I can make a poultice, and see +that he is put to bed. I have medicaments in my bag. I would not +hinder thee. Sure there is work for all in this terrible +place!"</p> +<p>"And this is only one of many scattered throughout the city!" +breathed Gertrude softly, her heart swelling within her.</p> +<p>Ever since she had halted before this house she had been aware +of the sound of plaintive weeping and wailing proceeding from the +adjoining tenement; and as Dinah moved away towards the door +opposite, she asked Elizabeth Harwood what the sound meant, and if +there was trouble in the next house.</p> +<p>"Trouble?--trouble and death everywhere!" was the answer. "The +man was taken away in the cart yesternight. God alone knows who is +alive in the house now. There be seven little children there with +their mother, but which of them be living and which dead by now no +one knows. I have heard nothing of the woman's voice these many +hours. Pray Heaven she be not dead--and the little helpless +children all alone with the dead corpse!"</p> +<p>"Oh, surely that could not be!" cried Gertrude. "Surely the +watchman would go to them! Oh, that must not be! I will go and +speak with him. He would not leave them to perish so!"</p> +<p>The woman shook her head, and hurried up the stairs whither her +husband had been carried. Her heart was too full of her own anxious +misery to have room for more than a passing sympathy for the needs +and troubles of others.</p> +<p>But Gertrude could not rest. She neither followed Janet into +this house nor her aunt across the street. She went to the door of +the next house, upon which the red cross had been painted; and +seeing her so stand before it, a man detached himself from a group +hard by and asked her business, since the house was closed.</p> +<p>"I am a nurse," answered Gertrude, boldly. "I have come to nurse +the sick. Let me into this house, I pray, for I hear the need is +very sore."</p> +<p>"Sore enough, mistress," answered the man, fumbling with his +key, for of course there was admittance to plague nurses and +doctors into infected houses; "but if you take my advice, you'll +not venture within the door. The dead cart has had four from it +these last two days. Like enough by this time they are all dead. +They have asked for nothing these past ten hours--not since the +cart came last night."</p> +<p>With a shudder of pity and horror, but without any personal +shrinking, Gertrude signed to the man to open the door, which he +proceeded to do in a leisurely manner. Then she stepped across the +threshold, the door was closed behind her, and she heard the key +turn in the lock.</p> +<p>Truly her work had now begun. She was incarcerated in a +plague-stricken house, and this time by her own will.</p> +<p>For the first few seconds she stood still in the dark entry, +unable to see her way before her; but soon her eyes grew used to +the dim light, and she saw that there was a door on one side of the +passage and a steep flight of stairs leading upwards, and it was +from some upper portion of the house from which the sound of crying +proceeded.</p> +<p>Just glancing into the lower room, which she found quite empty, +and which was unexpectedly clean, she mounted the rickety +staircase, the wailing sound growing more distinct every step she +took. The house was a very tiny one even for these small tenements, +and there were only two little rooms upon the upper floor. It was +from one of these that the crying was proceeding, but Gertrude +could not be sure which.</p> +<p>With a beating heart she opened the first door, and saw a sight +which went to her heart. Upon a narrow bed lay two little forms +wrapped in the same sheet, rigidly still, waiting their last +transit to the common grave. Except for the two dead children the +room was empty, and Gertrude, softly closing the door, and +breathing a silent prayer, she scarce knew whether for herself, for +the living, or for the dead, she opened the other, and came upon a +scene, the pathos and inexpressible sadness of which made a lasting +impression upon her, which even after events did not efface from +her memory.</p> +<p>There was a bed in this room too, and upon it lay the emaciated +form of a woman; asleep, as the girl first thought--dead, as she +afterwards quickly discovered. By her side there nestled a little +child, hardly more than an infant, wailing pitifully with that +plaintive, persistent cry which had attracted her attention at the +outset. Three children, varying in age from four to eight, sat +huddled on the floor in a corner, their tear-stained faces all +turned in wondering expectancy upon the newcomer. Stretched upon +the floor beside the bed was another child, so still that Gertrude +felt from the first that it, too, was dead, and when she lifted up +the little form, she saw the dreaded death tokens upon the waxen +skin.</p> +<p>With a prayer in her heart for grace and strength and guidance, +Gertrude laid the dead child beside its dead mother--for she saw +that the woman was cold and stiff in death; and then she gathered +the living children round her, and taking the infant in her arms, +she led them all down into the lower room, and quickly kindled the +fire that was laid ready in the grate.</p> +<p>She found nothing of any sort in the house, and the children +were crying for food; but the watchman quickly provided what was +needful, being, perhaps, a little ashamed of the condition in which +this household had been found.</p> +<p>Gertrude tended and fed and comforted the little ones, her heart +overflowing with sympathy. They clung about her and fondled her as +children will do those who have come to them in their hour of dire +necessity; and as their hunger became appeased, and they grew +confident of the kindness of their new friend, they told their +pathetic tale with the unconscious graphic force of childhood.</p> +<p>There had been a large household only a few days before. Father, +mother, two grownup sons, and one or two daughters--evidently by a +former marriage. The big brothers had gone away--probably to act as +bearers or watchmen--and the little ones knew nothing of them. One +of the sisters had been in service, but came home suddenly, +complaining of illness, sat down in a chair, and died almost before +they realized she was ill. They had kept that death a secret, had +obtained a certificate of some other ailment than the distemper, +and for a week all had gone on quietly, when suddenly three became +ill together.</p> +<p>Numbers of houses were shut up all round them. Theirs was +reported and closed. For a few days there had been hope. Then the +father sickened, and all the grownup persons had died almost +together, save the mother, and had been taken away the night before +last.</p> +<p>What had happened since was dim and confused to the children. +Their mother had seemed like one stunned--had hardly noticed them, +or attended to their wants. Then two of them had been taken away +into the other room. They had heard their mother weeping aloud for +a while, but she would not let them in to her. By and by she had +come back to them, and had taken the baby in her arms and lain down +upon the bed. She had never moved after that--not even when little +Harry had called to her, and had lain crying and moaning on the +floor. The children thought she was asleep, and by and by Harry had +gone to sleep too. They had slept together on the floor, huddled +together in helpless misery and confusion of mind, until awakened +by the ceaseless wailing of the baby, which never roused their +mother. They were too much bewildered and weakened to make any +attempt to call for help, and were just waiting for what would +happen, when Gertrude had come amongst them like an angel of +mercy.</p> +<p>Her tears fell fast as the story was told, but the children had +shed all theirs. They were comforted now, feeling as though +something good had happened, and they crept about her and clung +round her, begging her not to leave them.</p> +<p>Nor had she any wish to do so. It seemed to her as though this +must surely be her place for the present--amongst these helpless +little ones to whom Providence had sent her in the hour of their +extreme necessity.</p> +<p>The baby was sleeping in her arms. She looked down into its tiny +face, and wondered if it would be possible that its life could be +saved. For a whole night it had lain at its dead mother's side. +Could it have escaped the contagion? The three older children +appeared well, and even grew merry as the hours wore slowly +away.</p> +<p>From time to time Gertrude looked out into the street, but there +was nothing to be seen save the men on guard; and only from time to +time was the silence broken by the cry of some delirious patient, +or a shriek for mercy from some half-demented woman driven frantic +by the terrors by which she was surrounded.</p> +<p>When afternoon came, she prepared more food for the children, +and partook of it with them, and wondered how and where she should +spend the night. The infant in her arms had grown strangely still +and quiet. It could not be roused, and breathed slowly and +heavily.</p> +<p>"Harry looked just like that before he went to sleep," said the +eldest of the children, coming and peeping into the small waxen +face; and Gertrude gave a little involuntary shiver as she thought +of the four still forms lying sleeping upstairs, and wondered +whether this would make a fifth for the bearers to carry forth at +night.</p> +<p>Just as the dusk began to fall, there came the sound of a slight +parley without. Then the key turned in the house door, and the next +minute, to Gertrude's unspeakable relief, Dinah entered the +room.</p> +<p>"My poor child, did you think I was never coming to you?"</p> +<p>"I did not know if you could," answered Gertrude. "Oh, tell me, +what must I do for all these little ones--and for the baby? Is he +dying too? It is so long since he has moved. I am afraid to look at +him lest I disturb him, but--but--"</p> +<p>Dinah bent over the little form, and lifted it gently from +Gertrude's arms.</p> +<p>"Poor little lamb, its troubles are all over," she said, after a +few moments. "The little ones often go like that--quite peacefully +and quietly. It has not suffered at all. It has been a gentle and +merciful release. You need not weep for it, my child."</p> +<p>"I think my tears are for the living rather than for the dead," +answered Gertrude, with brimming eyes. "There are but three left +out of seven living yesterday, and what is to become of them?"</p> +<p>"We must report their case to the authorities. There are numbers +of poor children left thus orphaned, and it is hard to know what +will become of them. I will send at once to my brother-in-law, and +report the matter to him. He will know what it were best to do. +Meantime I shall remain here with you. Janet is busy next door. Her +patient is mending, and none besides in the house is sick. But oh, +the things I have seen and heard this day! There is not one living +now in the house to which I went first, and I have seen ten men and +women die since I saw you last.</p> +<p>"God alone knows how it is to end. It seems as though His hand +were outstretched, and as though the whole city were doomed!"</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. JOSEPH'S +PLAN.</a></h2> +<p>"Ben, boy, I am sick to death of sitting at home doing naught, +and seeing naught of all the sights that be abroad, and of which +men are for ever speaking. What boots it to be alive, if one is +buried or shut up as we are? Art thou afraid to come forth? or +shall I go alone?"</p> +<p>"Where wilt thou go, brother?" asked Ben, looking up from a bit +of wood carving upon which he was engrossed, with an eager light in +his eyes. Perhaps these two young lads had felt the calamity which +had befallen the city more than any one else in the house; for +whilst the father, mother, sisters, and two elder sons were all +hard at work doing all in their power for the relief of the sick, +the younger lads were kept at home, to be as far as possible out of +harm's way, and they had felt the confinement and idleness as most +irksome. Their mother employed them about the house when she could, +but it was not much she could find for them to do. To be sure there +was some amusement to be found in watching the life on the river; +for though traffic was suspended, many whole families were living +on board vessels moored on the river, and hoped by this device to +keep the plague away from them. Yet the time hung very heavy on +their hands, and the stories of the increasing ravages of the +plague could not but depress them, seeming as they did to lengthen +out indefinitely the time of their captivity.</p> +<p>Three of the sisters were practically living away from the house +(of which more anon), and the loneliness of the silent house was +becoming unbearable. To lads used to an active life and plenty of +exercise, the distemper itself seemed a less evil than this close +confinement between four walls. The bridge houses did not even +possess yards or strips of garden, and without venturing out into +the streets--which had for some weeks been forbidden by their +father--the boys could not stir beyond the walls of their home.</p> +<p>August had now come, a close, steaming, sultry August, and the +plague was raging with a virulence that threatened to destroy the +whole city. The Bills of Mortality week by week were appalling in +magnitude; and yet those who knew best the condition of the lower +courts and alleys were well aware that no possible record could be +kept of those crowded localities, where whole households and +families, even whole streets, were swept away in the course of a +few days, and where there were sometimes none left to give warning +and notice that there were dead to be borne away. So the registered +deaths could only show a certain proportionate accuracy; for even +the dead carts could keep no reckoning of the numbers they bore to +the common grave, and the bearers themselves were too often +stricken down in the performance of their ghastly duties, and shot +by their comrades into the pit amongst those whom they had carried +forth an hour before.</p> +<p>It was small wonder that the father had forbidden his younger +sons to adventure themselves in the streets, where the pestilence +seemed to hang in the very air. But the magnitude of the peril was +beginning to rob even the most cautious persons of any confidence +in their methods, for it seemed as if those working hardest amongst +the sick and dead were quite as much preserved from peril as those +who shunned their neighbours and never came abroad unless dire +necessity compelled them. Indeed, despite many deaths of +individuals, it began to be noted that the magistrates, aldermen, +examiners of health, and nurses of the plague-stricken sickened and +died less, in proportion, than almost any other class. And of the +physicians who remained at their posts to tend the sick, not many +died, although some few here and there were stricken, and of these +a certain proportion succumbed. But, as a whole, the workers who +toiled with a good heart and gentle spirit amongst the sick (not +just for daily bread or love of gain) fared better in the +prevailing mortality than many others who held themselves aloof and +lived in deadly fear of the pestilence. Wherefore it was not +strange that at the last a sort of recklessness was bred amongst +the citizens, and they kept themselves less close now when things +were in so terrible a pass than they had done when the deaths were +fewer and the conditions less fatal.</p> +<p>James Harmer had always been one of those who had put his +confidence more in the providence of God than in any merely human +precautions, and although he had always insisted upon prudence and +care, he had steadily discouraged in his household any of that +feeling of panic or of despair which he believed had been a strong +factor in the spread of the distemper in its earlier stages. He +also agreed in part with Lady Scrope's views regarding the water +supply of the city--the old wells and the contaminated river water. +He let nothing be drunk in his house save what was supplied from +the New River, and he impressed the same advice upon all his +neighbours.</p> +<p>But to return to the boys and their weariness of the shut-up +life of the house. The heat had grown intolerable, their pining +after fresh air and liberty was become too strong for resistance. +Benjamin's eyes glowed at the very thought of escape from the +region of streets and shut-up houses, and he drank in the sense of +his brother's words eagerly.</p> +<p>"Hark ye," cried Joseph, in a rapid undertone, for they did not +wish their mother to overhear them, she being by many degrees more +fearful than their father, as was but natural, "why should we stay +pent up here day after day and week after week, when even the girls +be permitted abroad, and go into the very heart of the peril? We +cannot be nurses to the sick, I know right well; neither can we +help to search houses, or do such like things, as the elder ones. +But why do we tarry at home eating our hearts out, when the whole +world is before us, and there be such wondrous things to see?</p> +<p>"Listen, Ben. I have a plan. Let us but once get free of this +house, and be our own masters, and we will wander about London as +we will, and see those things of which all men be speaking. I long +to look into one of those yawning pits where they shoot the dead, +and to see the grass growing in the city, and to hear some of those +strange preachers who go about prophesying in the streets. I long +for liberty and freedom. I would sooner die of the plague at last +than fret my heart out shut up here. And we may be smitten as well +at home as abroad, as even father says himself."</p> +<p>"Why, so we may; and methinks more are smitten so than those who +go forth and breathe the air without!" cried Benjamin. "Our aunt +lives amongst the dying, but she is not smitten; and the girls are +ever in peril, but they live on, whilst others are taken. But will +our father let us go forth? For I would not like to go unless he +bid us."</p> +<p>"Nay, nor I," answered Joseph quickly, for reverence for their +father was a strong sentiment in all James Harmer's sons and +daughters; "we will strive to win his consent and blessing to our +going forth; but we need not say all that we purpose doing when we +are free. For, indeed, it may well be that we shall meet with many +hindrances. They say that the roads leading away from the city are +all closely watched, that no infected person is able to pass, and +that many sound ones are turned back lest they bring the infection +with them."</p> +<p>"Then how shall we get out?" asked Benjamin; but Joseph nodded +his head wisely, and said he had a plan.</p> +<p>Before, however, he could further enlighten his brother they +heard their father's footfall on the stair, and he came in looking +weary and sad, as it was inevitable that he should, coming as he +did into personal contact with so much misery, sickness, and +death.</p> +<p>There was always refreshment ready for the workers at any hour +of the day when they should come in to seek it. The boys rushed off +to get him such things as their mother had ready, and whilst he +partook of the wholesome and appetising meal prepared for him, +Joseph burst out with his pent-up weariness of the shut-up life, +his longing to be free of the house and the city, and his earnest +desire that his father would permit him and Benjamin to go forth +and shift for themselves in the country until the terrible +visitation was past.</p> +<p>The father listened with a grave face. He too began to have a +great fear that the whole city was doomed to be swept away, and +although upheld in his resolve to do his duty, so long as he was +able, by his strong and fervent faith in the goodness and mercy of +God, he was disposed to the opinion that all who remained would in +turn be carried off victims to the fearful pestilence. Had he known +from the beginning how terrible it would become in time, he +sometimes said to himself, he would at least have made shift to +send his family away; but now that they were engrossed in works of +piety and charity, he could not feel it right to bid them cease +their labours of love, nor did he feel any temptation to quit his +own post. Yet this made him the more ready to listen to the eager +petition of his boys, and to consider the project which had formed +itself in the quick brain of Joseph.</p> +<p>"Father, I have thought of it so much these past days. We are +sound in health. Thou couldst get us the papers without which men +say none can pass the watch upon the roads. With them we can sally +forth, with a small provision of money and food, and make our way +either by boat to the farm at Greenwich where the other 'prentice +boys live, and where there would be a welcome for us always, or +else northward to our aunt beyond Islington, who will be hungering +for news of us, and who will be rejoiced, I am very sure, to give +us a welcome and to hear of the welfare of all, even though we come +to her from the land of the shadow of death."</p> +<p>"Ay, verily do ye!" exclaimed the father, whose phrase Joseph +had picked up and quoted. "Heaven send that my poor sister be yet +numbered among the living. I know not whether the fell disease has +wrought havoc beyond the limits of the city in that direction; but +at the first it raged more fiercely north and west than with us, +and God alone knows who are taken and who are left!"</p> +<p>"Then, father, may we go?" asked Benjamin, eagerly.</p> +<p>The father looked from one boy to the other with the glance of +one who thinks he may be looking his last upon some loved face. Men +had begun to grow used to the thought that when they left their +homes in the morning they might return to them no more, or that +they might return to find that one or more of their dear ones had +been struck down and carried off in the course of a few hours. So +terrible was the malignity of the disease, that often death +supervened after a few hours, although others would linger--often +in terrible suffering--for many days before death (or much more +rarely, recovery) relieved them of their pain. This good man knew +that if he let the lads go, he might never see them again. He or +they might be victims before they met, and might see each other's +face no more upon earth.</p> +<p>Yet he did not oppose the boys' plan. He knew how bad for them +was this shut-up life, and how the very sense of fret and +compulsory inactivity might predispose them to the contagion. If +they could once get beyond the limits of the city, they might be +far safer than they could be here. It would be a relief to have +them gone--to think of them as living in safety in the fresh air of +the country. Moreover, it pleased him to think of sending a message +of loving assurance to his favourite sister, who dwelt in the open +country beyond the hamlet of Islington. He felt assured that if she +still lived she would have a warm welcome for his boys; and if the +lads were well provided with money and wholesome food, they had +wits enough to take care of themselves for a while, until they had +found some asylum. In all the surrounding villages, as he well +knew, were only too many empty houses and cottages. He knew that +there was risk; but there was risk everywhere, and he felt sympathy +with the lads for their eager desire to get free of their +prison.</p> +<p>The mother felt more fear, but she never interfered with the +decisions of her husband. Her tears fell as she packed up in very +small compass a few articles of clothing and some provisions for +the lads. Their father furnished them with money, the bulk of which +was sewn up in their clothing, and with those health passes which +were so needful for those leaving the infected city.</p> +<p>The summer's night was really the best time in which to commence +a journey. The heat of the streets by day was intolerable, the +danger of encountering infected persons was greater, whilst +although it was at night that the dead carts went about, these +could be easily avoided, as the warning bell and mournful cry gave +ample notice of their approach.</p> +<p>Last thing of all, after the boys had partaken of an ample +supper, and had shed a few natural tears at the thought that it +might be the last meal ever eaten beneath the roof of the old home, +the father knelt down and commended them solemnly to the care of +Him in whose hands alone lay the issues of life and death. Then he +blessed the boys individually, charged them to take every +reasonable care, and finally escorted them down to the door, which +he carefully opened, and after ascertaining that the road was quite +clear, he walked with them as far as the end of the bridge, and +dismissed them on their way with another blessing.</p> +<p>Much sobered by the scenes through which they had passed, yet +not a little elated by the quick and successful issue to their +demand, the boys looked each other in the face by the light of the +great yellow moon, and nipped each other by the hand to make sure +it was not all a dream.</p> +<p>How strange the sleeping city looked beneath that pale white +light! The boys had hardly ever been abroad after nightfall, and +never during this sad strange time, when even by day all was so +different from what they had been used to see. Now it did indeed +look like a city of the dead, for not even an idle roisterer, or a +drunkard stumbling homewards with uncertain gait, was to be seen. +The watchmen, sleeping or trying to sleep within the porches or +upon the doorsteps of certain houses, were the only living beings +to be seen; and even they were few and far between in this +locality, for almost every house was shut up and empty, the +inhabitants of many having fled before the distemper became so bad, +and others having all died off, leaving the houses utterly +vacant.</p> +<p>"Let us go and see the house where Janet and Rebecca and +Mistress Gertrude dwell," said Benjamin, as they watched their +father's figure vanish in the distance, and felt themselves quite +alone in the world; "perchance one of them may be waking, and may +look forth from the window if we throw up a pebble. I would fain +say a farewell word to them ere we go forth, for who knows whether +we may see them again?"</p> +<p>"Ay, verily, we may be dead or else they," said Joseph, but in +the tone of one who has grown used to the thought. "This way then; +the house lies hard by, next door to my Lady Scrope's. Who would +have thought that that cross old madwoman would have turned so +kindly disposed towards the poor and sick as she hath done?"</p> +<p>There were many amongst her former friends and acquaintances who +would have asked that question, had they been there to ask it. Lady +Scrope had never been credited with charitable feelings; and yet it +was her doing that a large house, her own property, next door to +the small one she chose to inhabit, had been made over to the +magistrates and authorities of the city at this time, for the +housing of orphaned children whose parents had perished of the +plague, and who were thrown upon the charity of strangers, or upon +those entrusted with the care of the city at this crisis.</p> +<p>True, the house was standing empty and desolate. Its tenants had +fled, taking their goods with them. All that was left of plenishing +belonged to Lady Scrope. Pallets were easily provided by the +officers of health, and the place was speedily filled with little +children, who were tenderly cared for by Gertrude, Janet, and +Rebecca (who had joined her sister in this labour of love), all +three having given themselves up to this work, and finding their +hands too full to desire other occupation abroad.</p> +<p>Joseph and Benjamin had of course heard all about this, and knew +exactly where to find the house. It was marked with the red cross, +for, as was inevitable, many of the little inmates were carried off +by the fell disease after admission, and the numbers were +constantly thinning and being replaced by fresh ones. But hitherto +the nurses themselves had been spared, and toiled on unremittingly +at their self-chosen work.</p> +<p>There was no watchman at the door as the boys stole up, but they +had scarcely been there ten seconds before a window was thrown up, +and Janet's voice was heard exclaiming, "Andrew, art thou yet +returned?"</p> +<p>"There is nobody here, sister," answered Joseph, "save Ben and +me. We are come to say farewell, for we are going forth this night +from the city, to seek safety with our aunt in Islington. Can we do +aught for you ere we go?"</p> +<p>"Alas, it is the dead cart of which we have need tonight," +answered Janet. "We sent the watchman for physic, but it is needed +no longer. The little ones are dead already--three of them, and +only one ill this morning.</p> +<p>"Ah, brothers, glad am I to hear ye be going. God send you +safety and health; and forget not to pray for us in the city when +ye are far away. May He soon see fit to remove His chastening hand! +It is hard to see the little ones suffer."</p> +<p>Janet's voice was quiet and calm, but Benjamin burst into tears +at the sound of her words, and at the thought of the little dead +children; but she leaned out and said kindly:</p> +<p>"Nay, nay, weep not, Ben, boy; let us think that they are taken +in mercy from the evil to come. But linger not here, dear brothers. +Who knows that contagion may not dwell in the very air? Go forth +with what speed you may.</p> +<p>"Ah, there is the bell! The cart is on its way! And here comes +good Andrew back. Now he will do all that we need. Fare you well, +brothers. Rebecca is sleeping tonight, and I would not wake her. I +will give her your farewell love tomorrow."</p> +<p>She waved them away, and they withdrew; but a species of +fascination kept them hanging round the spot. Moreover, they feared +to meet the death cart in that narrow thoroughfare, and the porch +of the church of Allhallowes the Less was in close proximity. The +iron gate was open, and they were quickly able to hide themselves +in the porch, from whence by peeping out they could see all that +passed.</p> +<p>Nearer and nearer came the sound of the rumbling wheels and the +bell, and now the cry, "Bring forth your dead! bring forth your +dead!" was clearly to be heard through the still air. Round the +corner came the strange conveyance, drawn by two weary-looking +horses; and at some signal from the inmates it drew up at the door +of the house in front of which the boys had been standing a minute +before.</p> +<p>The watchman brought out three little shrouded forms. They were +laid upon the top of the awful pile, and the cart with its heavy +load rumbled away, the bell no longer ringing, because there was no +room for more upon that journey.</p> +<p>The boys stood with hands closely locked together, for although +they had heard of these things before, they had never seen the +sight. Their bedroom at home looked out upon the river, and the +dead cart only went about at night. They trembled at the thought +which came to them, that had they been numbered amongst the dead +during this terrible visitation they too had been carried in that +fashion to their last resting place.</p> +<p>"Come, Ben, let us be going," said Joseph, recovering himself +first; "we need not linger in the city if we like it not. There may +be strange things to see in all truth; but if we have no stomach +for them, why let us make our way northward with all speed. We can +leave all this behind us by daybreak an we will."</p> +<p>Taking hands, and feeling their courage return as they walked +on, the brothers passed along the silent streets. Sometimes a +window would be opened from above, and a doleful voice would cry +aloud in grief or anguish of mind, or some command would be shouted +to the watchman beneath, or there would be a piercing cry for the +dead cart as it rumbled by. The boys at last grew used to the sound +of the bell and the wheels. Go where they would they could not +avoid hearing one or another as the men went about their dismal +errand. It seemed less terrible after a time than it had done at +first, and the bold spirit within them came back.</p> +<p>They wended their way northward, avoiding the narrower +thoroughfares and keeping to the broader streets. Even these were +often very narrow and ill smelling, so that the brothers had +recourse to their vinegar bottle or swallowed a spoonful of Venice +treacle before venturing down. Once they were forced to turn aside +out of their way to avoid a heap of corpses that had been brought +out from a narrow alley to wait for the cart. They had heard of +such things before, but to see them was tenfold more terrible. Yet +the spirit of adventure took possession of them as they passed +along, and they were less afraid even of the most terrible things +than they had been of lesser ones at starting.</p> +<p>In passing near to the little church of St. Margaret's, +Lothbury, they were attracted by the sound of a voice crying out as +if in excitement or fear. Being filled with curiosity in spite of +their fears, they turned in the direction of the sound, and came +upon a man clutching hard at the railings of the little churchyard, +which like all others in that part was now filled to overflowing, +and closed for burials, the dead being taken to the great pits dug +in various places. Night though it was, there was a small crowd of +persons gathered round the railings, all peering in with eager +faces, whilst the voice of the man at the corner kept calling +out:</p> +<p>"See! see! there she goes! She stands there by yon tall +tombstone waving her arms over her head! Now she is wringing her +hands, and weeping again.</p> +<p>"O my wife, my wife! do you not know me? I am here, Margaret, I +am here! Weep not for the children who are dead; weep for unhappy +me, who am left alive. Ay, it is for the living that men should +weep and howl. The dead are at peace--their troubles are over; but +our agony is yet to come.</p> +<p>"Margaret! Margaret! look at me! pity me!</p> +<p>"Ah, she will not hear! She turns away! See, she is gliding +hither and thither seeking the graves of her children--</p> +<p>"Margaret! I could not help it. They would not let them lie +beside thee! They took them away in the cart. I would have sprung +in after them, but they held me back.</p> +<p>"Ah, woe is me! woe is me! There is no place for me either among +the living or the dead. All turn from me alike!"</p> +<p>The tears rolled down the poor man's face, his voice was choked +with sobs. He still continued to point and to cry out, and to +address some imaginary being whom he declared was wandering amongst +the tombs. The boys pressed near to look, for some in the crowd +suddenly made exclamations as though they had caught a glimpse of +the phantom; but look as they would the brothers saw nothing, and +Joseph asked of an elderly man in the little crowd what it all +meant.</p> +<p>"Methinks it means only that yon poor fellow has lost his +reason," he answered, shaking his head. "His wife was one of the +first to die when the distemper broke out; and men called it only a +fever, though some said she had the tokens on her. She was buried +here. And it is but a week since the last of his children was +taken--six in two weeks; and he has escaped out of his house, and +wanders about the streets, and comes here every night, saying that +he sees his dead wife, and that she is looking for her children, +and cannot find them because they are lying in the plague pit. He +is distraught, poor fellow; but many men gather night by night to +hear him.</p> +<p>"For my part, I will come no more. Men are best at home in their +own houses; and you lads had best go home as fast as you can. It is +no place and no hour for boys to be abroad."</p> +<p>Joseph and Benjamin said a civil goodnight to the man, and +taking hands bent their steps northward once again. They were now +close to the open Moor Fields; and although there was still another +region of houses to be passed upon the other side, they felt that +when once they had passed the gate and the walls they should have +left the worst of the peril behind them.</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. WITHOUT THE +WALLS.</a></h2> +<p>Only one trifling incident befell the boys before they found +themselves without the city gate. They were proceeding down Coleman +Street towards Moor Gate, where they knew they should have to show +their pass, and perhaps have some slight trouble in getting +through, and were rehearsing such things as they had decided to +tell the guard at the gate, when the sound of a dismal howling +smote upon their ears, and they paused to look about them, for the +street was very still, and almost every house seemed deserted and +empty.</p> +<p>The sound came again, and Joseph remarked:</p> +<p>"'Tis some poor dog who perchance has lost master and home. +There be only too many such in the city they say. They throw them +by scores into the river to be rid of them; but I have heard father +say that it is an ill thing to do, and likely to spread the +contagion instead of checking it. Alive, the poor beasts do no ill; +but their carcasses poison both the water and the air. Beshrew me, +but he makes a doleful wailing!"</p> +<p>Going on cautiously through the darkness, for the moon was +veiled behind some clouds, the brothers presently saw, lying just +outside a shut-up house, a long still form wrapped in a winding +sheet, put out ready for one of the many carts that passed up the +street on the way to the great pits in Bunhill and Finsbury Fields. +Whether the corpse was that of a man or a woman the boys could not +tell. They made a circuit round it to avoid passing near.</p> +<p>But beside the still figure squatted a little dog of the +turnspit variety, and he was awakening the echoes of the quiet +street by his lugubrious howls.</p> +<p>Both the brothers were fond of animals, and particularly of +dogs, and they paused after having passed by, and tried to get the +creature to come to them; but though he paused for a moment in his +wailing, and even wagged his tail as though in gratitude for the +kind words spoken, he would not leave his post beside the corpse, +and the boys had perforce to go on their way.</p> +<p>"The dumb brute could teach a lesson in charity to many a human +being," remarked Joseph, gravely; "he will not leave his dead +master, and they too often flee away even from the living. Poor +creature, how mournful are his cries! I would that we could comfort +him."</p> +<p>At the gate they were stopped and questioned. They told a +straightforward and truthful tale; their pass was examined and +found correct; and their father's name being widely known and +respected for his untiring labours in the city at this time, the +boys were treated civilly enough and wished God speed and a safe +return. They were the more quickly dismissed that the sound of +wheels rumbling up to the gate made itself heard, and the guard +darted hastily away into his shelter.</p> +<p>"These plague carts will be the death of us, passing continually +all the night through with their load," he said. "Best be gone +before it comes through, lads. It carries death in its train."</p> +<p>The boys were glad enough to make off, and found themselves for +the time being free of houses in the pleasant open Moor Fields, +which were familiar to them as the favourite gathering place of +shopmen and apprentices on all high days and holidays. The moon +shone down brightly again, although near her setting now; but +before long the dawn would begin to lighten in the east, and the +boys cared no whit for the semi-darkness of a summer's night.</p> +<p>Behind them still came the rumble of wheels, and they drew aside +to let the cart pass with its dreadful cargo. Behind it ran a small +black object, and Benjamin exclaimed:</p> +<p>"It is the little dog! O brother, let us follow and see what +becomes of him!"</p> +<p>The strange curiosity to see the burying place, which tempted +only too many to their death in those perilous days, was upon +Joseph at that moment. He desired greatly to see one of those +plague pits, and to watch the emptying of the cart at its mouth. +Forgetting their father's warnings, the brothers ran quickly after +the cart, which was easily kept in view, and soon saw it halt and +turn round at a spot where they could discern the outline of a +great mound of earth, and the black yawning mouth of what they knew +must be the pit.</p> +<p>Half terrified, half fascinated, they gripped each other by the +hand and crept step by step nearer. They took care to keep to the +windward of the pit, and were getting very near to it when the air +was rent by another of the doleful cries which they had heard +before, but which sounded so strange and mournful here that they +stopped short in terror at the noise. It seemed even to affect the +nerves of the bearers, for one of them exclaimed:</p> +<p>"It is that cur again, who has left the marks of his teeth in my +hand. If I could but get near him with my cudgel, he should never +howl again."</p> +<p>"I thought we had rid ourselves of the brute, but he must have +followed us. A plague upon his doleful voice! They say that it +bodes ill to hear a dog's howl at night. Perchance he will leap +down into the pit after his master. We will take good care he comes +not forth again if he does that."</p> +<p>With these words the rough fellows turned to the cart, which was +now at the edge of the pit, and finished the rude burial which was +all that could in those days be given to the dead. Every now and +then one of the men would aim a heavy stone at the poor dog, who +sat on the edge of the pit howling dismally. The creature, however, +was never hit, for he kept a respectful distance from his +enemies.</p> +<p>Their work done, the men got into the cart and drove away, +without having noticed the two boys crouching beside the pile of +soil in the shadow. The dog began running backwards and forwards +along the edge of the pit, which being only lately dug was still +deep, though filling up very fast in these terrible days of drought +and heat.</p> +<p>The boys rose up and called to him kindly. He did not notice +them at first, but finally came, and looked up in their faces with +appealing eyes, as though he begged of them to give him back his +master.</p> +<p>"Touch him not, Ben," said Joseph to his brother, who would have +taken the dog into his embrace, "he has been in a plague stricken +house. Let us coax him to yon pool, and wash him there; and then, +if he will go with us, we will take him and welcome. It may be he +will be a safeguard from danger; and it would be sorrowful indeed +to leave him here."</p> +<p>The dog was divided in mind between watching the pit's mouth and +going with the kindly-spoken boys, who coaxed and called to him; +but at last it seemed as though the loneliness of the place, and +the natural instinct of the canine mind to follow something human, +prevailed over the other instinct of watching for the return of his +master from this strange resting place. Perhaps the journey in the +cart and the promiscuous burial had confused the poor beast's mind +as to whether indeed his master lay there at all. With many wistful +glances backwards, he still followed the boys; and when they paused +at length beside a spring of fresh water, he needed little urging +to jump in and refresh himself with a bath, emerging thence in +better spirits and ravenously hungry, as they quickly found when +they opened their wallet and partook of a part of the excellent +provisions packed up for them by their mother.</p> +<p>The young travellers were by this time both tired and sleepy, +and finding near by a soft mossy bank, they lay down and were +quickly asleep, whilst the dog curled himself up contentedly at +their feet and slept also.</p> +<p>When the boys awoke the sun was up, although it was still early +morning. They were bewildered for a few moments to know where they +were, but memory quickly returned to them, and with it a sense of +exhilaration at being no longer cooped up within the walls of a +house, but out in the open country, with the world before them and +the plague-stricken city behind. Even the presence of the dog, who +proved to be a handsome and intelligent member of his race, black +and tan in colour, with appealing eyes and a quick comprehension of +what was spoken to him, added greatly to the pleasure of the lads. +They gave their new companion the name of Fido, as a tribute to his +affection for his dead master; but they were very well pleased that +he did not carry his fidelity to the pass of remaining behind by +the great pit when they started forth to pursue their way to their +aunt's house beyond Islington.</p> +<p>Fido ran backwards and forwards for a while whining and looking +pathetically sorrowful; but after the boys had coaxed and caressed +him, and had explained many times over that his master could not +possibly come back, he seemed to resign himself to the inevitable, +and trotted at their heels with drooping tail, but with gratitude +in his eyes whenever they paused to caress him or give him a kind +word.</p> +<p>And they were glad enough of his company along the road, for +from time to time they met groups of very rough-looking men +prowling about as though in search of plunder. Some of these +fellows eyed the wallets carried by the boys with covetous glances; +but on such occasions Fido invariably placed himself in front of +his young masters, and with flashing eyes and bristling back +plainly intimated that he was there to protect them, whilst the +gleaming rows of shining teeth which he displayed when he curled up +his lips in a threatening snarl seemed to convince all parties that +it was better not to provoke him to anger.</p> +<p>The more open parts of the region without the walls looked very +strange to the boys as they journeyed onwards. Numbers of tents +were to be seen dotted about Finsbury and Moor Fields and whole +families were living there in the hope of escaping contagion. +Country people from regions about came daily with their produce to +supply the needs of these nomads; and it was curious to see the +precautions taken on both sides to avoid personal contact. The +villagers would deposit their goods upon large stones set up for +the purpose; and after they had retired to a little distance, some +persons from the tents or scattered houses would come and take the +produce, depositing payment for it in a jar of vinegar set there to +receive it. After it had thus lain a short time, the vendor would +come and take it thence; but some were so cautious that they would +not place it in purse or pocket till they had passed it through the +fire of a little brazier which they had with them.</p> +<p>Nor was it to be wondered at that the country folks were thus +cautious, for the contagion had spread throughout all the +surrounding districts, and every village had its tale of woe to +tell. At first the people had been kind and compassionate enough in +welcoming and harbouring apparently sound persons fleeing from the +city of destruction; but when again and again it happened that the +wayfarer died that same night of the plague in the house which had +received him, and infected many of those who had showed him +kindness, so that sometimes a whole family was swept away in two or +three days, it was no wonder that they were afraid of offering +hospitality to wayfarers, and preferred that these persons should +encamp at a distance from them, though they were willing to supply +them with the necessaries of life at reasonable charges. It must be +spoken to the credit of the country people at this time, that they +did not raise the price of provisions, as might have been expected, +seeing the risk they ran in taking them to the city. There was no +scarcity and hardly any advance in price throughout the dismal time +of visitation. This was doubtless due, in part, to the wise and +able measures taken by the magistrates and city corporations; but +it also redounds to the credit of the villagers, that they did not +strive to enrich themselves through the misfortunes of their +neighbours.</p> +<p>The boys were glad to purchase fruit and milk for a light +breakfast; and their fresh open faces and tender years seemed to +give them favour wherever they went. They were not shunned, as some +travellers found themselves at this time, but were admitted to +several farm houses on their way, and regaled plentifully, whilst +they told their tale to a circle of breathless listeners.</p> +<p>Sometimes they were stopped upon the way by the men told off to +watch the roads, and turn back any coming from the city who had not +the proper pass of health. But the boys, being duly provided with +this, were always suffered to proceed after some parley. They +began, however, to understand how difficult a thing it had now +become to escape from the infected city; and several times they saw +travellers turned back because their passes were dated a few days +back, and the guard declared it impossible to know what infection +they had encountered since.</p> +<p>Very sad indeed were these poor creatures at being, as it were, +sent back to their death. For it began to be rumoured all about the +city that not a living creature would escape who remained there. It +was said that God's judgments had gone forth, and that the whole +place would be given over to destruction, even as Sodom, and that +none who remained in it would be left alive.</p> +<p>This sort of talk made the brothers very anxious and sorrowful, +but, as Joseph sought to remind his brother, the people who said +these things had nothing better to go by than the prognostications +of old women or quacks and astrologers, whom their father had +taught them to disbelieve. He had always taught them that God alone +knew the future and the thing that He would do, and that it was +folly and presumption on the part of man to seek to penetrate His +counsels, and venture to prophesy things which He had not revealed. +So they plucked up heart, these two youthful wayfarers, firmly +believing that God would take care of their father and all those +who were working in the cause of mercy and charity in the great +city, and that they could leave the issues of these things in His +hands.</p> +<p>Since the day was very hot, and they were somewhat weary with +their long walk and short night, they lay down at noontide in a +little wood, not more than three miles from their aunt's house in +Islington, and there they slept again, with Fido at their feet, +until the sun was far in the west, and they were ready to finish +their journey in the cool freshness of the evening.</p> +<p>They had come by no means the nearest way, but had fetched a +wide circuit, so as to avoid, as far as possible, all regions of +outlying houses. Time was no particular object to them, so that +they reached their destination by nightfall; and now they were +quite in the open country, and delighting in the pure air and the +rural sights and sounds.</p> +<p>Yet even here all was not so happy and smiling as appeared from +the face of nature. The corn was standing ripe for the sickle, but +in too many districts there were not hands enough to reap it. One +beautiful field of wheat which the brothers passed was shedding the +golden grain from the ripened ears, and flocks of birds were +gathering it up. When they passed the farmstead they saw the reason +for this. Not a sign of life was there about the place. No cattle +lowed, no dog barked; and an old crone who sat by the wayside with +a bundle of ripe ears in her lap shook her head as she saw the +wondering faces of the boys, and said:</p> +<p>"All dead and gone! all dead and gone! Alive one day--dead the +next! The plague carried them off, every one of them, harvest hands +and all. They say it was the men who came to cut the corn that +brought it. But who can tell? They got yon field in"--pointing to +one where the golden stubble was to be seen short and compact--"but +half were dead ere ever it was down; and then the sickness fell +upon the house, and of those who did not fly not one remains. Lord +have mercy upon us! We be all dead men if He come not to our aid. +Who knows whose turn may come next?"</p> +<p>Truly the shadow of death seemed everywhere. But the boys were +so used to dismal tales of wholesale devastation that one more or +less did not seem greatly to matter. Perhaps the contrast was the +more sharp out here between the smiling landscape and the silent, +shut-up house; but the chief fear which beset them was lest their +kind aunt should have been taken by death, in which case they +scarcely knew what would become of themselves.</p> +<p>They hastened their steps as they entered the familiar lane +where nestled the thatched cottage in which their aunt had her +abode. Mary Harmer was their father's youngest and favourite +sister. Once she had made one of the home party on the bridge; but +that was long before the boys could remember. That was in the +lifetime of their grandparents, and before the old people resigned +their business to the able hands of their son James, and came into +the country to live.</p> +<p>The grandfather of Joseph and Benjamin had built this cottage, +and he and his wife had lived in it from that time till the day of +their death. Their daughter Mary remained still in the pretty, +commodious place--if indeed she had not died during the time of the +visitation. The children all loved their Aunt Mary, and esteemed a +visit to her house as one of the greatest of privileges.</p> +<p>Benjamin, who was rather delicate, had once passed six months +together here, and was called by Mary Harmer "her boy." He grew +excited as he marked every familiar turn in the shady lane; and +when at last the thatched roof of the rose-covered cottage came in +sight, he uttered a shout of excitement and ran hastily +forward.</p> +<p>The diamond lattice panes were shining with their accustomed +cleanliness. There was no sign of neglect about the bright little +house. The door stood open to the sunshine and the breeze; and at +the sound of Benjamin's cry, a figure in a neat cotton gown and +large apron appeared suddenly in the doorway, whilst a familiar +voice exclaimed: "Now God be praised! it is my own boy. Two of +them! Thank Heaven for so much as this!" and running down the +garden path, Mary Harmer folded both the lads in her arms, tears +coursing down her cheeks the while.</p> +<p>"God bless them! God bless them! How I have longed for news of +you all! What news from home bring you, dear lads? I tremble almost +to ask, but be it what it may, two of you are alive and well; and +in times like these we must needs learn to say, 'Thy will be +done!'"</p> +<p>"We are all alive, we are all well!" cried Joseph, hastening to +relieve the worst of his aunt's fears. "Some say ours is almost the +only house in London where there be not one dead. I scarce know if +that be true. One or two of us have been sick, and some say that +Janet and Dan have both had a touch of the distemper; but they soon +were sound again. They all go about amongst the sick. Father has +been one of the examiners all the time through; and though they +only appoint them for a month, he will not give up his office. He +says that so long as he and his family are preserved, so long will +he strive to do his duty towards his fellow men. There be many like +him--our good Lord Mayor for one; and my Lord Craven, who will not +fly, as almost all the great ones have done, but stays to help to +govern the city wisely, and to see that the alms are distributed +aright to the poor at this season.</p> +<p>"But there was naught for us to do. We were too young to be +bearers or searchers, and boys cannot tend the sick. So we grew +weary past bearing of the shut-up house, and yestereve our father +gave us leave to sally forth and seek news of thee, good aunt. And +oh, we are right glad to find ourselves out of the city and safe +with thee!"</p> +<p>Joseph spoke on, because Mary Harmer was weeping so plenteously +with joy and gratitude that she had no words in which to answer +him. She had not dared to hope that she should see again any of the +dear faces of her kinsfolk. True, the distemper was yet raging +fiercely, and none could say when the end would come; but it was +much to know that they had lived in safety through these many +weeks. It seemed to the pious woman as though God had given her a +sort of pledge of His special mercy to her and hers, and that He +would not now fail them.</p> +<p>She led the boys into her pretty, cheerful cottage, and set them +down to the table, where she quickly had a plentiful meal set +before them. Fido's pathetic story was told, and he was caressed +and fed in a fashion that altogether won his heart. He made them +all laugh at his method of showing gratitude; for he walked up to +the fire before which a bit of meat was cooking, and plainly +intimated his desire to be allowed to turn the spit if they would +give him the needful convenience. This being done by the handy +Benjamin, he set to his task with the greatest readiness, and the +boys quite forgot all their sorrowful thoughts in the entertainment +of watching Fido turn the spit.</p> +<p>Long did they sit at table, eating with the healthy appetite of +growing lads, and answering their aunt's minute questions as to the +welfare of every member of the household. Greatly was she +interested in the home for desolate children provided by Lady +Scrope, and ordered by her nieces and Gertrude. She told the boys +that her house had often been used to shelter homeless and +destitute persons, whom charity forbade her to send away. Just now +she was alone; but even then she was not idle, for all round in the +open fields and woods persons of all conditions were living +encamped, and some of these had hardly the necessaries of life. Out +of her own modest abundance, Mary Harmer supplied food and clothing +to numbers of poor creatures, who might otherwise be in danger of +perishing; and she bid the boys be ready to help her in her labour +of love, because she had ofttimes more to do than one pair of hands +could accomplish, and her little serving girl had run off in alarm +the very first time she opened her door to a poor sick lady with an +infant in her arms, who had escaped from the city only to die out +in the country. It was not the plague that carried her off, but +lung disease of long standing, and the infant did not survive its +mother many days.</p> +<p>"But it frightened Sally away, poor child, just as if it had +been the sickness; and I have since heard that she was taken with +it a month ago in her own home, and that every one there died +within three days. These be terrible times! But we know they are +sent by God, and that He will help us through them; and surely, I +think, it cannot be His will that we turn a deaf ear to the plaints +of the afflicted, and think of naught but our own safety. I have +work and enough to do, and will find you enough to fill your hands, +boys. It was a happy thought indeed which sent you two hither to +me."</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. LOVE IN +DIFFICULTIES.</a></h2> +<p>"It means that I am a ruined man, my poor girl!"</p> +<p>"Ruined! O father, how can that be? Methought you were a man of +much substance. Mother always said so."</p> +<p>Gertrude looked anxiously into the careworn face of her father, +which had greatly changed during the past weeks. He paid her +occasional visits in her self-chosen home, being one of those who +had ceased to fear contagion, and went about almost without +precaution, from sheer indifference to the long-continued peril. He +had been a changed man ever since the melancholy deaths of his son +and his wife; but today a darker cloud than any she had seen there +before rested upon his brow, and the daughter was anxious to learn +the reason of it. This it was which had wrung from the Master +Builder the foregoing confession.</p> +<p>"Your poor mother was partly right, and partly wrong. I might +have been a rich man, I might be a rich man even now--terrible as +is the state of trade in this stricken city--had it not been that +she would have me adventure beyond my means in her haste to see me +wealthy before my fellows. And the end of it is that I stand here +today a ruined man!"</p> +<p>Gertrude held in her arms a little child, over whom she bent +from time to time to assure herself that it slept. Her face had +grown pale and thin during her long confinement between the walls +of this house; yet it was a happier and more contented face than it +had been wont to be in the days when she lived in luxurious +idleness at her mother's side. She looked many years older than she +had done then, but there was a beauty and sweet serenity about her +appearance now which had not been visible in the days of old.</p> +<p>"What has happened during this sad time to ruin you, dear +father?" asked Gertrude gently, guessing that it would ease his +heart to talk of his troubles. "Is it the sudden stoppage of all +trade?"</p> +<p>"That has been serious enough. It would have done much harm had +that been the only thing, but there be many, many other causes. +Thou art too young and unversed in the ways of business to +understand all; but I was not content to grow rich in the course of +business alone. I had ventures of all sorts afloat--on sea and on +land; and through the death of patrons, through the sudden stoppage +of all trade, numbers and numbers of these have come to no good. My +money is lost; my loans cannot be recovered. Men are dead or fled +to whom I looked for payment. Half-finished houses are thrown back +on my hands, since half London is empty. And poor Frederick's debts +are like the sands upon the seashore. I cannot meet them, but I +cannot let others suffer for his imprudence and folly. The old +house on the bridge will have to go. I must needs sell it so soon +as a purchaser can be found. It may be I shall have to hand it over +to one of Frederick's creditors bodily. I had thought to end my +days there in peace, with my children's children round me. But the +Almighty is dealing very bitterly with me. Wife and son are taken +away, and now the old home must follow!"</p> +<p>Gertrude, who knew his great love for the house in which he had +been born, well understood what a fearful wrench this would be, and +her heart overflowed with compassion.</p> +<p>"O father! must it be so? Is there no way else? Methought you +had stores of costly goods laid by in your warehouses. Surely the +sale of those things would save you from this last step!"</p> +<p>The Master Builder smiled a little bitterly.</p> +<p>"Truly is it said that wealth takes to itself wings in days of +adversity. I myself thought as you do, child--at least in part; and +today I visited my warehouses, to look over my goods and see what +there were to fetch when men will dare to buy things which have +lain within the walls of this doomed city all these months. I had +the keys of the place. I myself locked them up when the plague +forced me to close my warehouse and dismiss my men. I saw all made +sure, as I thought, with my own eyes. But what think you I found +there today?"</p> +<p>"O father! what?" asked Gertrude, and yet she divined the answer +all too well; for she had heard stories of robbery and daring +wickedness even during this season of judgment and punishment which +prepared her for the worst.</p> +<p>"That the whole place had been plundered; that there was nothing +left of any price whatever. Thieves have broken in during this time +of panic, and have despoiled me of the value of thousands of +pounds. Whilst my mind has been full of other matters, my worldly +wealth has been swept away. I stand here before you a ruined man. +And like enough the very miscreants who have used this time of +public calamity for plunder and lawlessness may be lying by this +time in the common grave. But that will not give my property back +to me."</p> +<p>"Alas, father, these are indeed evil days! But has no watch been +kept upon the streets that such acts can be done by the evil +disposed? Is all property in the city at the mercy of the violent +and wicked?"</p> +<p>"Only too much has vanished that same way, as I have heard from +many. Some owners are themselves gone where they will need their +valuables no more, and others were careful to remove all they had +to their own houses, or they themselves lived over their goods and +could guard them by their presence. That is where my error lay. I +gave your mother her will in this. She liked not the shop beneath, +and I stored my goods elsewhere. Poor woman, she is dead and gone; +we will speak no hard things of her weaknesses and follies. But had +she lived to see this day, she had grievously lamented her resolve +to have naught about her to remind her of buying and selling."</p> +<p>"Ah, poor mother! I often think it was the happiest thing for +her to be taken ere these fearful things came to pass. The terror +would well nigh have driven her distracted. Methinks she would have +died of sheer fright. But, father, is all lost past recovery? Can +none of the watch or of the constables tell you aught, or help you +to recover aught?"</p> +<p>"Ah, child, in these days of death, who is to know so much as +where to carry one's questions? Watchmen and constables have died +and changed a score of times in the past two months. The +magistrates do their best to keep order in the city, but who can +fight against the odds of such a time as this? The very men +employed as watchmen may be the thieves themselves. They have to +take the services of almost any who offer. It is no time to pick +and choose. I carried my story to the Lord Mayor himself, and he +gave me sympathy and pity; but to look for the robbers is a +hopeless task. It is most like that the plague pits have received +them ere now. The mortality in the lower parts of the city is more +fearful than it has ever been, and it seems as though the summer +heats would never end. Belike I shall be taken next, and then it +will matter little that my fortune has taken unto itself +wings."</p> +<p>Gertrude came and bent over him with a soft caress.</p> +<p>"Say not so, dear father. God has preserved us all this while. +Let us not distrust His love and goodness now."</p> +<p>"It might be the greater mercy," answered the Master Builder in +a depressed voice. "I am too old to start life again with nothing +but my broken credit for capital. As for you, child, your future is +assured. I could leave you happy in that thought. You would want +for nothing."</p> +<p>Gertrude raised her eyes wonderingly to her father's face. She +had laid the sleeping child in its cot, and had taken a place at +her father's feet.</p> +<p>"What mean you, father?" she asked. "I have only you in the wide +world now. If you were to die, I should be both orphaned and +destitute. What mean you by speaking of my future thus? Whom have I +in the wide world besides yourself?"</p> +<p>The father passed his hand over her curly hair, and answered +with a sigh and a smile:</p> +<p>"Surely, child, thou dost know by this time that the heart of +Reuben Harmer is all thine own. He worships the very ground on +which thou dost tread. His father and I have spoken of it. Fortune +has dealt more kindly with our neighbours than with me. Good James +Harmer has laid by money, while I have adventured it rashly in the +hope of large returns. This calamity has but checked his work for +these months; when the scourge is past, he will reopen business +once more, and will find himself but little the poorer. He is a +wiser man than I have been; and his wife and sons have all been +helpful to him. The love of Reuben Harmer is my assurance for thy +future welfare. Thou wilt never want so long as they have a roof +over their heads.</p> +<p>"Nay, now what ails thee, child? Why dost thou spring up and +look at me like that?"</p> +<p>For Gertrude's usually tranquil face was ablaze now with all +manner of conflicting emotions. She seemed for a moment almost too +agitated to speak, and when she could command herself there were +traces of great emotion in her voice.</p> +<p>"Father, father!" she cried, "how can you thus shame me? You +must know with what unmerited scorn and contumely Reuben was +treated by poor mother when it was we who were rich and they who +were (in her belief, at least) poor. She would scarce let him cross +the threshold of our house. I have tingled with shame at the way in +which she spoke of and to him. Frederick openly insulted him at +pleasure. Every slight was heaped upon him; and he was once told to +his very face that he might look elsewhere for a wife, for that my +fortune was to win me the hand of some needy Court gallant. Yes, +father, I heard with my own ears those very words spoken--save that +the term 'needy' was added in mine own heart. Oh, I could have +shrunk into the earth with shame. And after all this, after all +these insults and aspersions heaped upon him in the day of our +prosperity--am I to be made over to him penniless and needy, +without a shilling of dowry? Am I to be thrown upon his generosity +in my hour of poverty, when I was denied to him in my day of +supposed wealth?</p> +<p>"Father, father! I cannot, I will not permit it. I can work for +my own bread if needs must be. But I will not owe it to the +generosity of Reuben Harmer, after all that has passed. I should be +humbled to the very dust!"</p> +<p>The Master Builder looked at his daughter in amaze. He had never +seen Gertrude quite so moved before.</p> +<p>"Why, child," he exclaimed in astonishment. "I always thought +that thou hadst a liking for the youth!"</p> +<p>Then at that word Gertrude burst suddenly into tears and +cried:</p> +<p>"I love him as mine own soul, and I am not ashamed to own it. +But that is the very reason why I will have none of him now. I will +not be thrown upon his generosity like a bundle of damaged goods. +Let him seek a wife who can bring him a modest fortune with her, +and who has never been scornfully denied to him before. O father! +can you not see that I can never consent to be his now?</p> +<p>"O mother, mother! why did you do me this ill?"</p> +<p>The father felt that the situation had got beyond him. Never +much versed in the ways of women, he was fairly puzzled by his +daughter's strange method of taking his confidence. He knew, of +course, of the tactics of his wife, which he had deplored at the +time, though he had been unable to bring her to a better frame of +mind; but since the young people liked each other, and since madam +was in her grave, it seemed absurd to let a shadow stand between +them and their happiness. Perhaps if left to herself Gertrude would +reach that conclusion of her own accord, and the Master Builder +rose to go without pressing the matter further.</p> +<p>Gertrude, left alone, was weeping silently and bitterly beside +the child's cot, when she was aware of a little short laugh almost +at her elbow, and a familiar voice said in sharp accents:</p> +<p>"Good child! I like a woman with a spirit of her own. Go on as +you have begun, and don't let him think he is to have it all his +own way. Lovers are all very well, but husbands soon show their +wives how cheap they hold them when they have won them all too +cheap. Throw him aside in scorn! Let him not think or see that you +care a snap of the fingers for him. That will rivet the fetters all +the faster; and when you have got him like a tame bear at the end +of a chain--why then you can make up your mind at leisure what you +will end by doing."</p> +<p>Gertrude sprang up suddenly, and faced Lady Scrope with flushed +cheeks and glowing eyes.</p> +<p>The little witch-like woman with her black-handled stick and her +mobcap was no unfrequent visitor to this shut-up house. There was a +communication between the two dwellings by means of a door in the +cellars, and all this while curiosity, or some better motive, had +prompted the eccentric old woman to come to and fro between her own +luxurious house and this, paying visits to the devoted girls, and +by turns terrifying and charming the children. Gertrude had been +interested from the first by the piquant individuality of the old +aristocrat, and was a decided favourite with her. It was plain now +that she had been listening to the conversation between father and +daughter, a thing so characteristic of her curiosity and even of +her benevolence that Gertrude hardly so much as resented it. +Nevertheless, having a spirit of her own, and being by no means +prepared to be dictated to in these matters, some hot words escaped +her lips almost before she knew, and were answered by Lady Scrope +by an amused peal of her witch-like laughter.</p> +<p>"Tut! tut! tut! Hoity toity! but she is in a temper, is she, my +lady? Well a good thing too. Your saints are insipid unless they +can call up a spice of the devil on occasion! Oh, don't you be +afraid of me, child. I've known all about you and young Harmer this +long time. I agree with your late mother, that you could do better; +but with all the world topsy turvy as it is now, we must take what +we can get; and that young man is estimable without doubt, and a +bit of a hero in his way. I don't blame you for loving him. It's +the way with maids, and will be to the end of time, I take it. All +I say is, don't throw yourself away too fast. Show a proper pride. +Keep him dangling and fearing, rather than hoping too much. Show +him that he can't have you just for the asking. Why, child, I have +kept a dozen fools hanging round me for a twelvemonth together +sometimes; but I only married when I was tired of the game, and +when I knew I had made sure of a captive who would not rebel. I +swore in church to obey poor Scrope; but, bless you, he obeyed me +like a lamb to the last day of his life--and was all the better for +it."</p> +<p>Lady Scrope's reminiscences and bits of worldly wisdom were not +much more to Gertrude's taste than her father's had been. It was +not pride, but a sense of humiliation and shame, which kept her +from facing the thought of marriage with Reuben now that she was +poor, when she had been scornfully denied to him when she was +thought to be a well-dowered maiden. The idea of keeping him +dangling after her in suspense was about the last that would ever +have entered her head. Her feeling was one of profound humiliation +and unworthiness. Her mother's bitter words could never be +forgotten by her; and after what her father had told her of his +ruined state, it appeared to her simply impossible that she should +let Reuben take possession of her and her future when she could +bring nothing in return.</p> +<p>But she could not speak of these things to Lady Scrope; and +finding her favourite irresponsive and reserved, the dame shrugged +her shoulders and passed on to another room, where the children +were soon heard to utter shrieks and gasps of mingled delight and +terror at the stories she told them, which stories invariably +fascinated them to an extraordinary degree, yet left them with a +sense of undefined horror that was half delightful, half +terrible.</p> +<p>They all thought that she was a witch, and that she could spirit +any of them away to fairy land. But since she brought sweetmeats in +her capacious pockets, and had an endless fund of stories at her +disposal, her visits were always welcomed, and she had certainly +shown herself capable of a most unsuspected benevolence at this +crisis, in presenting this house to the authorities for such a +purpose, and in contributing considerably to the maintenance of the +desolate little inmates.</p> +<p>She liked to hear their dismal stories almost as well as they +liked to hear hers. She made a point of visiting every fresh batch +of children, after they had been duly fumigated and disinfected, +and she seemed to take a horrible and unnatural delight in the +ghastly details of desolation and death which were revealed in the +artless narratives of the children.</p> +<p>She was one of those who, knowing much of the fearful corruption +of the times, were fond of prognosticating this judgment as a +sweeping away of the dregs of the earth; although she still +maintained that had the water supply been purer and differently +arranged, the judgment of Heaven would have had to seek another +medium.</p> +<p>For three or four days Gertrude lived in a state of feverish +expectancy and subdued excitement. She had fancied from her +father's tone in speaking that there had been some talk of a +betrothal between him and his neighbour, and that Reuben might take +her consent for granted. The idea made her restless and unhappy. +She wished the ordeal of refusing him over. She believed she was +right in taking this step; but it was a hard one, and she was +sometimes afraid of her own courage. The more she thought of the +matter the more she convinced herself that Reuben's love was one of +compassion rather than true affection. He had almost ceased his +attentions in her mother's lifetime, and had been very reserved in +his intercourse of late. Doubtless if he heard of her father's +ruin, generosity would make him strive to do all that he could for +her in her changed circumstances. It would be like him then to step +forward and avow himself ready to marry her. But it was out of the +question for her to consent. She wished the matter settled and done +with; she wished the irrevocable words spoken.</p> +<p>And yet when at dusk one evening Reuben suddenly stood before +her, she felt her heart beating to suffocation, and wished that she +had any reasonable excuse for fleeing from him.</p> +<p>His visits to the house were not frequent; he was too busy to +make them so. But from time to time he brought orphaned children to +the home of shelter, or took away from it some of those for whom +other homes had been found with their kinsfolk in other places. +Tonight he had brought in three little destitute orphans; but +having given them over into the care of his sisters, he went in +search of Gertrude, who was with the youngest of the children in a +separate room, and, having sung them all to sleep, was sitting in +the window thinking her own thoughts.</p> +<p>She knew what was coming when she saw Reuben's face, and braced +herself to meet it. Reuben was very quiet and self-restrained--so +self-restrained that she thought she read in his manner an +indication that her suspicion was correct, and that it was pity +rather than love which prompted his proposal of marriage.</p> +<p>As a matter of fact Reuben was more in love with Gertrude now +than he had ever been in his life before; but he had come to look +upon her as a being so far above him in every respect that he +sometimes marvelled at himself for ever hoping to win her. The fact +that her father was just now a ruined man seemed to him as nothing. +At a time like this the presence or absence of this world's goods +appeared absolutely trivial. Reuben believed that the Master +Builder would retrieve his fortune in better times without +difficulty, and regarded this temporary reverse as absolutely +insignificant. Therefore he had no clue to Gertrude's motive in her +rejection of him, and accepted it almost in silence, feeling that +it was what he always ought to have looked for, and marvelling at +his temerity in seeking the hand of one who was to him more angel +than woman.</p> +<p>He said very little; he took it very quietly. It seemed to him +as though all the life went out of him, and as though hope died +within him for ever. But he scarcely showed any outward emotion as +he rose and said farewell; and little did he guess how, when he had +gone, Gertrude flung herself on the floor in a passion of tears and +sobbed till the fountain of her weeping was exhausted.</p> +<p>"I was right! I was right! It was not love; it was only pity! +But ah, how terrible it is to put aside all the happiness of one's +life! Oh I wonder if I have done wrong! I wonder if I could better +have borne it if I had humbled myself to take what he had to offer, +without thinking of anything but myself!"</p> +<p>Would he come again? Would he try to see her any more? Would +this be the end of everything between them? Gertrude asked herself +these questions a thousand times a day; but a week flew by and he +had not come. She had not seen a sign of him, nor had any word +concerning him reached her from without. There was nothing very +unusual in this, certainly; and yet as day after day passed by +without bringing him, the girl felt her heart sinking within her, +and would have given worlds for the chance of reconsidering her +well-considered judgment.</p> +<p>How the days went by she scarcely knew, but the next event in +her dream-like life was the sudden bursting into the room of +Dorcas, her face flushed, and her eyelids swollen and red with +weeping.</p> +<p>Dorcas was a member of Lady Scrope's household, but paid visits +from time to time to the other house. Also, as Lady Scrope's house +was not shut up, she could go thence to pay a visit home at any +time, and she had just come from one such visit now.</p> +<p>Gertrude sprang up at sight of her, asking anxiously:</p> +<p>"Dorcas! Dorcas! what is wrong?"</p> +<p>"Reuben!" cried Dorcas, with a great catch in her breath, and +then she fell sobbing again as though her heart would break.</p> +<p>Gertrude stood like one turned to stone, her face growing as +white as her kerchief.</p> +<p>"What of Reuben?" she asked, in a voice that she hardly knew for +her own. "He is not--dead?"</p> +<p>"Pray Heaven he be not," cried Dorcas through her sobs; and +then, with a great effort controlling herself, she told her brief +tale.</p> +<p>"I went home at noon today and found them all in sore trouble. +Reuben has not been seen or heard of for three days. Mother says +she had a fear for several days before that that something was +amiss; he looked so wan, and ate so little, and seemed like one out +of whom all heart is gone. He would go forth daily to his work, but +he came home harassed and tired, and on the last morning she +thought him sick; but he said he was well, and promised to come +home early. Then she let him go, and no one has seen him since.</p> +<p>"Oh, what can have befallen him? There seems but one thing to +believe. They say the sickness is worse now than ever it was. +People drop down dead in street and market, and soon there will be +none left to bury them. That must have been Reuben's fate. He has +dropped down with the infection upon him, and if he be not lying in +some pest house--which they say it is death now to enter--he must +be lying in one of those awful graves.</p> +<p>"O Reuben! Reuben! we shall never see you again!"</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. EXCITING +DISCOVERIES.</a></h2> +<p>Joseph and Benjamin found themselves exceedingly happy and +exceedingly well occupied in their aunt's pleasant cottage. They +rose every morning with the lark, and spent an hour in setting +everything to rights in the house, and sweeping out every room with +scrupulous care, as their mother had taught them to do at home, +believing that perfect cleanliness was one of the greatest +safeguards against infection. Hot and close though the weather +remained, the air out in these open country places seemed delicious +to the boys, and the freedom to run out every moment into the open +fields was in itself a privilege which could only be appreciated by +those who had been long confined within walls.</p> +<p>Sometimes they were alone in the house with their aunt. +Sometimes the cottage harboured guests of various +degrees--travellers fleeing from the doomed city in terror of the +fearful mortality there, or poor unfortunates turned away from +their own abodes because they were suspected of having been in +contact with the sick, and were refused admittance again. Servant +maids were often put in this melancholy plight. They would be sent +upon errands by their employers to the bake house or some other +place; and perhaps ere they were admitted again they would be +closely questioned as to what they had seen or heard. Sometimes +having terrible and doleful tales to tell of having seen persons +fall down in the agonies of death almost at their feet, terror +would seize hold upon the inmates of the house, who would refuse to +open the door to one who might by this time be herself infected. +And when this was the case, the forlorn creature was forced to +wander away, and generally tried to find her way out of the city +and into the country beyond. Many such unlucky wights, having no +passes, were turned back by the guardians of the road; but some +succeeded in evading these men, or else in persuading them, and +many such unfortunates had found rest and help and shelter beneath +Mary Harmer's charitable roof.</p> +<p>September was now come, but as yet there was no abatement of the +pestilence raging in the city. Indeed the accounts coming in of the +virulence of the plague seemed worse than ever. Ten thousand deaths +were returned in the weekly bill for the first week alone, and +those who knew the state of the city were of opinion that not more +than two-thirds of the deaths were ever really reported to the +authorities. Hitherto the carts had never gone about save by night, +and for all that was rumoured by those who loved to make the worst +of so terrible a calamity, it was seldom that a corpse lay about in +the streets for above a short while, just until notice of its +presence there was given to the authorities.</p> +<p>But now it seemed as though nothing could cope with the fearful +increase of the mortality. The carts were forced to work by day as +well as by night; and so virulent was now the pestilence that the +bearers and buriers who had hitherto escaped, or had recovered of +the malady and thought themselves safe, died in great numbers. So +that there were tales of carts overthrown in the streets by reason +of the drivers of them falling dead upon their load, or of +driverless horses going of their own accord to the pits with their +load.</p> +<p>These terrible tales were reported to Mary Harmer and her +nephews by the fugitives who sought refuge with her at this time. +And very thankful did the lads feel to be free of the city and its +terrors, albeit they never forgot to offer up earnest prayer for +their father and mother and all their dear ones who were dwelling +in the midst of so much peril. There was no hope of hearing news of +them, save by hazard, whilst things were like this; but they +trusted that the precautions taken, and hitherto successfully, +would avert the pestilence from their dwelling, and for the rest +the boys were too well employed to have time for brooding.</p> +<p>When their daily work at home was done, there were always +errands of mercy to be performed to neighbours who had had sickness +at home, or to the persons encamped in the fields, who were very +thankful of any little presents of vegetables or eggs or other +necessaries; whilst others of larger means were glad to buy from +those who came to sell, and gave good money for the +accommodation.</p> +<p>Mary Harmer had a large and productive garden and a large stock +of poultry, so that she was able both to sell and to give largely; +and the boys thought that working in the garden and looking after +the fowls was the best sort of fun possible. They were exceedingly +useful to her, and she kept them out of danger without fretting or +curbing their eager spirit of usefulness. Of course, no person in +those days could act with unselfish charity and not adventure +something; but she took all reasonable precautions, and, like her +brother, trusted the rest to Providence. And she believed that the +boys were safer with her, even though not so closely restrained, +than they would have been had they remained in the infected city, +where the people now seemed to be dying like stricken sheep.</p> +<p>But the spirit of curiosity and love of adventure were not dead +within the hearts of the boys; and although for some weeks they +were fully contented in performing the duties set them by their +aunt, there were moments when a strong curiosity would come over +them for some greater sensation, and this it was which led them to +an act of disobedience destined to be fraught with important +consequences, as will soon be seen.</p> +<p>Mary Harmer's house was empty again, and she had promised to sit +up for a night with a sick woman who lived some two miles off, and +who had entreated her to come and see her. This was no case of +plague, but fear of the infection had become so strong by this time +that the sick were often rather harshly treated, and sometimes +almost entirely neglected, by those about them. Mary Harmer had +heard that this poor creature had been left alone by her son's +wife, who had taken away her children and refused to go near her. +Mary knew that her presence there for a while, and her assurances +as to the nature of the malady, would be most likely to bring the +woman to reason, so she decided to go and remain for one whole +night, and she left her own cottage in the charge of the boys, +bidding them take care of everything, and expect her back again on +the following afternoon.</p> +<p>They were quite happy all that evening, seeing to the poultry, +and running races with Fido in the leafy lane. They liked the +importance of the charge of the house, although they missed the +gentle presence of their aunt. They shut up the house at dark, and +prepared their simple supper, and whilst they were eating it, +Benjamin said:</p> +<p>"What shall we do tomorrow when we have finished our work?"</p> +<p>"I know what I should like to do," said Joseph promptly.</p> +<p>"What, brother?" asked Benjamin eagerly.</p> +<p>"Marry, what I want to do is to go and see that farm house hard +by Clerkenwell which they have turned into a pest house, and where +they say they have dozens of plague-stricken people brought in +daily. I have never seen a pest house. I would fain know what it +looks like. And we might get more news there of the truth of those +things that they say about the plague in the city. Ben, what sayest +thou?"</p> +<p>Ben's eyes were round with wonder and excitement. The boys had +all the careless daring and eager curiosity which belong to boy +nature. They were by this time so much habituated to living under +conditions of risk and a certain amount of peril, that a little +more or a little less did not now seem greatly to matter.</p> +<p>"Would our good aunt approve?" asked the younger boy.</p> +<p>"I trow not," answered Joseph frankly; "women are always timid, +and she would say, perchance, that unless duty called us it were +foolish to adventure ourselves into danger. But I would fain see +this place, Ben, boy. If in time to come we live to be men, and +folks ask us of these days of peril and sickness, I should like to +have seen all that may be seen of these great things. Our father +went many times to the pest houses within the city and came away no +worse. Why should thou or I suffer? We have our vinegar bottles and +our decoctions, and methinks we know enough now not to run needless +risks."</p> +<p>Benjamin was almost as eager and curious as his brother. The +spirit of adventure soon gets into the hearts of boys and runs riot +there. Before they went to bed they had fully decided to make the +excursion; and they rose earlier next morning so as to get all +their work done while it was yet scarce light, so that they might +start for their destination before the heat of the day came on.</p> +<p>It was pleasant walking through the dewy fields, and hard indeed +was it to imagine that death and misery lurked anywhere in the +neighbourhood of what was so smiling and gay. The boys knew what +paths to take, nor was the distance very great. Benjamin on his +former visit to his aunt had spent a day with the good people at +this very farm house. Now, alas, all had been swept away, and the +place had been taken possession of for the time being by the +authorities, to be used as a supplementary pest house, where the +homeless sick could be temporarily housed. Generally it was but for +a few hours or a couple of days that such shelter was needed. The +great common grave, barely a quarter of a mile away, received day +by day the great majority of the unfortunate ones who were brought +in.</p> +<p>In all London proper there were only two pest houses used at +this time, one on some fields beyond Old Street, and the other in +Westminster; but as the virulence of the distemper increased, and +the suburbs became so terribly infected, and such numbers of +persons fleeing this way and that would fall stricken by the +wayside, it became necessary to find places of some sort where they +could be received, and the authorities began to take possession of +empty houses--generally farmsteads standing in a convenient but +isolated position--and to use them for this melancholy purpose. It +could not be expected that even the most charitable would receive +plague-stricken wayfarers into their own families, nor would such a +thing be right. Yet they could not remain by the wayside to die and +infect the air. So they were removed by the bearers appointed to +that gruesome work to these smaller pest houses, and only too often +from thence to the pit in the course of a few hours.</p> +<p>"How pretty it all looks!" said Benjamin, as they approached the +place. "See, Joseph, those are the great elm trees where the rooks +build, and which I used to climb. When they cut the hay, I came +often and rolled about in it and played with the boys from the +farm. To think that they should all be dead and gone! Alack! what +strange times these be! It seems sometimes as though it were all a +dream!"</p> +<p>"I would it were!" said Joseph, sobered by the thought of their +near approach to the habitation of death. "Ben, wouldst thou rather +turn back and see no more? We have at least seen the outside of a +pest house. Shall that suffice us?"</p> +<p>"Nay, if we have come so far, let us go further," answered +Benjamin. "We have seen naught but the tiled roof and the green +garden. Come this way. There is a little gate by which we may gain +entrance to a side door. Perchance they will turn us back if we +seek to enter at the front."</p> +<p>The farm house looked peaceful enough nestling beneath its +sheltering row of tall elms, in the midst of its wild garden, now a +mass of autumnal bloom. But as they neared the house the boys heard +dismal sounds issuing thence--the groans of sufferers beneath the +hands of the physicians, who were often driven to use what seemed +cruel measures to cause the tumours to break--the only chance of +recovery for the patient--the shriek of some maddened or delirious +patient, or the unintelligible murmur and babble from a multitude +of sick. Moreover, they inhaled the pungent fumes of the burning +drugs and vinegar which alone made it possible to breathe the +atmosphere tainted by so much pestilential sickness. The boys held +their own bottles of vinegar to their noses as they stole towards +the house, feeling a mingling of strong repulsion and strong +curiosity as they approached the dismal stronghold of disease.</p> +<p>Although men were in these days becoming almost reckless, and +those who actually nursed and tended the sick were naturally less +cautious and less particular than others, yet it is probable that +the daring boys might have been turned back had they approached the +house by the ordinary entrance, for they certainly could not +profess to have business there. As it was, however, thanks to +Benjamin's knowledge of the place, not a creature observed their +quiet approach through the orchard and along a tangled garden path. +This path brought them to a door, which stood wide open in this +sultry weather, in order to let a free current of air pass through +the house, and they inhaled more strongly still the aromatic +perfumes, which were not yet strong enough entirely to overcome +that other noisome odour which was one of the most fatal means of +spreading infection from plague-stricken patients.</p> +<p>"We can get into the great kitchen by this door," whispered +Benjamin. "I trow they will use it for the sick; it is the biggest +room in all the house. Yonder is the door. Shall I open it?"</p> +<p>Joseph gave a sign of assent, but bid his brother not speak +needlessly, and keep his handkerchief to his mouth and nose. They +had both steeped their handkerchiefs in vinegar, and could inhale +nothing save that pungent scent.</p> +<p>Burning with curiosity, yet half afraid of their own temerity, +the boys stole through a half-open door into a great room lined +with beds. The sound of moans, groans, shrieks, and prayers drowned +all the noise their own entry might have made, and they stood in +the shadow looking round them, quite unnoticed in the general +confusion of that busy home of death.</p> +<p>There were perhaps a score or more of sufferers in the great +room, and two nurses moving about amongst them, quickly and in none +too tender a fashion. A doctor was also there with a young man, his +assistant; and at some bedsides he paused, whilst at others he gave +a shake of the head, and went by without a word. Indeed it seemed +to the boys as though almost a quarter of the patients were dead +men, they lay so still and rigid, and the purple patches upon the +white skin stood out with such terrible distinctness.</p> +<p>A man suddenly put in his head from the open door at the other +end and asked of anybody who could answer him:</p> +<p>"Room for any more here?"</p> +<p>And the doctor's assistant, looking round, replied:</p> +<p>"Room for four, if you will send and have these taken away."</p> +<p>Almost immediately there came in two men, who bore away four +corpses from the place, and in five minutes more the beds were full +again, and the nurses were calculating how soon it would be +possible to receive more, some now here being obviously in a dying +state. The bearers reported that the outer barn was full as well as +all the house; but those without invariably died, whilst a portion +of those brought in recovered.</p> +<p>Joseph and Benjamin had seen enough for their own curiosity. It +was a more terrible sight than they had anticipated, and they felt +a great longing to get out of this stricken den into the purer air +without. Joseph had laid a hand on his brother's arm to draw him +away, when he was alarmed by seeing his brother's eyes fixed upon +the far corner of the room with such an extraordinary expression of +amaze and horror, that for a moment he feared he must have been +suddenly stricken by the plague and was going off into the awful +delirium he had heard described.</p> +<p>A poignant fear and remorse seized him, lest he had been the +means of bringing his brother into this peril and having caused his +attack, if indeed it were one, and he pulled him harder by the arm +to get him away. But with a strange choked cry Benjamin broke from +him, and running across the room he flung himself upon his knees by +the side of a bed, crying in a lamentable voice:</p> +<p>"Reuben--Reuben--Reuben!"</p> +<p>It was Joseph's turn now to gaze in horror and dismay. Could +that be Reuben--that cadaverous, death-like creature, with the +livid look of a plague patient, lying like one in a trance which +can only end in the awakening of death? Was Benjamin dreaming? or +was it really their brother? But how could he by any possibility be +here, so far away from home, so utterly beyond the limits of his +own district?</p> +<p>The doctor had approached Benjamin and had pulled him back from +the bedside quickly, though not unkindly.</p> +<p>"What are you doing here, child?" he said. "Have we not enough +upon our hands without having sound persons mad enough to seek to +add to the numbers of the sick? Is he a relation of yours?</p> +<p>"Well, well, well, he will be looked after here better than you +can do it. Your brother? Well, he has been four days here, and is +one of those I have hope for. The tumours have discharged. He is +suffering now from weakness and fever; but he might get well, +especially if we could move him out of this pestilential air. Go +home, children, and tell your friends that if they have a place to +take him to he will not infect them now, and will have a better +chance. But you must not linger here. It may be death to you; +though it is true enough that many come seeking their friends who +go away and take no hurt. No one can say who is safe and who is +not. But get you gone, get you gone. Your brother shall be well +looked to, I say. We have none so many who recover that we can +afford to let those slip back for whom there is a chance!"</p> +<p>He had pushed the boys by this time into the garden, and was +speaking to them there. He was a kind man, if blunt, and habit had +not bred indifference in him to the sufferings of those about him. +He told the boys that one of the strangest features about the +plague patients was the rapid recovery they often made when once +the poison was discharged by the breaking of the swellings, and the +rapidity with which the infection ceased when these broken tumours +had healed. Reuben's case had seemed desperate enough when he was +brought in, but now he was in a fair way of recovery. If he could +be taken to better air, he would probably be a sound man quickly. +Even as he was, he might well recover.</p> +<p>The boys looked at each other and said with one voice that they +thought they knew of a house where he would be received, and got +leave to remove him in a cart at any time. The doctor then hurried +back to his work, whilst the brothers looked each other in the +face, and Benjamin said gravely:</p> +<p>"Methinks it must have been put into our hearts to go. Aunt Mary +will forgive the temerity when she hears of the special +Providence."</p> +<p>Their aunt was at no great distance off, as Benjamin knew. +Instead of going home, they found their way to a brook. Pulling off +their clothes, they proceeded to drag them over the sweet-scented +meadow grass. Then they plunged into the brook, and enjoyed a +delightful paddle and bath in the clear cool water. After rolling +themselves in the hot grass, and having a fine romp there with +Fido, they donned their garments, and felt indeed as though they +had got rid of all germs of infection and disease.</p> +<p>After this they made their way towards the cottage where their +aunt had been staying, and met her just sallying forth to return +home.</p> +<p>Without any hesitation or delay Joseph told the tale of their +hardihood and disobedience, and the strange discovery to which it +had led them; and although their aunt trembled and looked pale with +terror at the thought of how they had exposed themselves, she did +not stop to chide them, but was full of anxiety for the immediate +release of Reuben from his pestilential prison, and eager to have +him to nurse in her own house, if she could do this without risk to +the younger boys.</p> +<p>They were to the full as eager as she, and promised in +everything to obey her--even to the sleeping and living in an +outhouse for a few days, if only she would save Reuben from that +horrible pest house. None knew better than Mary Harmer, who was a +notable nurse herself, how much might now depend upon pure air, +nourishing food, and quiet; and how could her nephew receive much +individual care when cooped up amongst scores, if not hundreds, of +desperate cases?</p> +<p>Mary was so much beloved by all around, that she quickly found a +farmer willing to lend a cart even for the purpose of removing a +sick person from the pest house, if he bore the honoured name of +Harmer. She would not permit any person to accompany the cart, but +drove it herself, and sent the boys home to prepare the airiest +chamber and make all such preparations as they could think of +beforehand; and to remove their own bedding into the outhouse, till +she was assured that they were in no peril from the presence of +their brother indoors.</p> +<p>Eagerly the boys worked at these tasks, and everything was in +beautiful order when the cart drove up. One of the attendants from +the pest house had come with it, and he carried Reuben up to the +bed made ready for him, and drove the cart away, promising to +disinfect it thoroughly, and return it to the owner ere +nightfall.</p> +<p>It was little the eager boys saw of their aunt that day. She was +engrossed by Reuben the whole time. She said he was terribly weak, +and that he had not yet got back the use of his faculties. He lay +in a sort of trance or stupor, and did not know where he was or +what was happening. It came from weakness, and would pass away as +he got back his strength. The doctor had assured her that the +plague symptoms had spent themselves, and that he was free from the +contagion.</p> +<p>The boys slept in the shed that night tranquilly enough, and in +the morning their aunt came to them with a grave and sorrowful +face.</p> +<p>"Is he worse?" asked Benjamin starting up.</p> +<p>"Not worse, I hope, yet not better. He has some trouble on his +mind, and I fear that if we cannot ease him of that he will die," +and her tears ran over, for Reuben was dear to her as a nephew, and +she knew what store her brother set by his eldest son.</p> +<p>"Trouble! what trouble? Are any dead at home?" cried the boys +anxiously. "Can he speak? has he talked to you? Tell us all!"</p> +<p>"He has not talked with his senses awake, but he has spoken +words which have told me much. Death is not the trouble. He has not +said one word to make me fear that our loved ones have been taken. +The trouble is his own. It is a trouble of the heart. It concerns +one whose name is Gertrude. Is not that the name of Master Mason's +daughter?"</p> +<p>"Why, yes, to be sure. She has joined with the rest--with Janet +and Rebecca--to care for the orphan children whom none know what to +do with, there are such numbers of them. Reuben always thought a +great deal of Mistress Gertrude--and she of him. What of that?"</p> +<p>"Does she think much of him?" asked Mary eagerly. "I feared she +had flouted his love!"</p> +<p>"Nay, she worships the ground he treads on!" cried Joseph, who +had a very sharp pair of eyes of his own, and a great liking for +sweet-spoken Gertrude himself. "It was madam, her mother, who +flouted Reuben. Gertrude is of different stuff. Why, whenever she +was with us she would get me in a corner and talk of nothing but +him. I thought they would but wait for the plague to be overpast to +wed each other!"</p> +<p>Mary stood with her hands locked together, thinking deeply.</p> +<p>"Joseph," she said, "if it were a matter of saving Reuben's +life, think you that Mistress Gertrude would come hither to my +house and help me to nurse him back to health?"</p> +<p>Joseph's eyes flashed with eager excitement.</p> +<p>"I am certain sure she would!" he answered.</p> +<p>"Ah, but how to let her know!" cried Mary, pressing her hands +together in perplexity. "Alas for days like these! How shall any +one get a letter safely delivered to her in time? It may be that if +we tarry the fever will have swept him off. It is fever of the mind +rather than the body, and it is hard to minister to the mind +diseased, without the one healing medicine."</p> +<p>"Hold! I have a plan," cried Joseph, whose wits were sharpened +by the pressing nature of the business in hand; "listen, and I will +expound it. Tomorrow morning I will sally forth with a barrow laden +with eggs, vegetables, and fruit; and I will enter the city as one +of the country folks for the market, with whom none interfere at +the barriers. I will e'en sell my goods to whoever will buy them, +and at the bottom of the barrow thou shalt put one of thy cotton +gowns and market aprons, Aunt Mary. Then will I go to Mistress +Gertrude and tell her all. I shall learn of the welfare of those at +home, and will come back with her at my side. The watch will but +take her for a market woman, and we shall both pass unchecked and +unhindered. By noon tomorrow Gertrude shall be here!</p> +<p>"Nay, hinder me not, good aunt. We must all adventure ourselves +somewhat in this dire distress and peril. Sure, if Providence kept +me safe in yon pest house yesterday, I need not fear to return to +the city upon an errand of mercy such as may save my brother's +life!"</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. HAPPY +MEETINGS.</a></h2> +<p>"Reuben found! Reuben alive! O Joseph, Joseph, Joseph!" and +Dorcas burst into tears of joy and relief, and sobbed aloud upon +her brother's neck.</p> +<p>Joseph had brought his news straight to Dorcas, knowing that she +at least would be certainly found within Lady Scrope's house. He +was secretly afraid to go home first, lest the fatal red cross upon +the door should tell its tale of woe, or lest the whole house +itself should be shut up and desolate, like the majority of the +houses he had passed in the forlorn city that morning. He felt, +however, an almost superstitious confidence that Lady Scrope's +house would defy the infection. He was decidedly of the opinion +that that redoubtable dame was a witch, and that she had charms +which kept the plague at bay. He therefore first sought out the +sister with whom he felt certain he could obtain speech; and she +had drawn him into a little parlour hard by the street door, in +great astonishment at seeing him there, and fearful at first (as +folks had grown to be of late) that he was the bearer of evil +tidings.</p> +<p>The joy and relief were therefore so great that she could not +restrain her tears, and between laughing, crying, and repeating in +astonished snatches the words of explanation which fell from +Joseph's lips, she made such an unwonted commotion in the +ordinarily silent house, that soon the tap of a stick could have +been heard by ears less preoccupied coming down the stairs and +along the passage, and the door was pushed open to admit the little +upright figure of the mistress of the house.</p> +<p>"Hoity toity! art thou bereft of thy senses, child? What in +fortune's name means all this?</p> +<p>"Boy, who art thou? and what dost thou here? A brother, +forsooth! Come with some news, perchance? Well, well, well; how +goes it in the city? Are any left alive? They say at the rate we +are going now, it will take but a month more to destroy the city +even as Sodom was destroyed!"</p> +<p>"O madam," cried Dorcas dashing away her tears, and turning an +eager face towards the witch-like old woman, who in her silk gown, +hooped and looped up, her fine lace cap and mittens, and her ebony +stick with its ivory head, looked the impersonation of a fairy +godmother, "this is my brother Joseph, and he comes with welcome +tidings. My brother Reuben is not dead, albeit he has in truth been +smitten by the plague. Joseph found him yesterday in the pest house +just beyond Clerkenwell; and he is in a fair way to recover, if his +mind can but be set at rest.</p> +<p>"Oh what news this will be for our parents!--for the girls!--for +Gertrude! Oh how we have mourned and wept together; and now we +shall rejoice with full hearts!"</p> +<p>"Has Mistress Gertrude mourned for him too?" asked Joseph +eagerly. "Marry that is good hearing, for I have wondered all this +while whether I should obtain the grace from her for which I have +come."</p> +<p>"And what is that, young man?" asked Lady Scrope, tapping her +cane upon the ground as much as to say that in her own house she +was not going to take a secondary place, and that conversation was +to be addressed to her. Joseph turned to her at once and +answered:</p> +<p>"Verily, good madam, my aunt has sent me hither to fetch +Mistress Gertrude forthwith to his side. She says that he calls +ceaselessly upon her, and that unless he can see her beside him he +may yet die of the disappointment and trouble, albeit the plague is +stayed in his case, and it is but the fever of weakness that is +upon him. She thinks it will not hurt her to come, if so be that it +is as we hope, and that she has in her heart for him the same love +as he has for her."</p> +<p>"Oh, she has! she has!" cried Dorcas, fired with sudden +illumination of mind about many things that perplexed her before. +"Her heart is just breaking for him!</p> +<p>"Prithee, good madam, let me go and call her. They say that she +is of little use in the house now, being weak and weeping, and too +sad at heart to work as heretofore. They can well spare her on such +an errand, and methinks it will save her life as well as his. Let +me but go and tell her the news."</p> +<p>"Go, child, go. Lovers be the biggest fools in all this world of +fools! And if the women be the bigger fools, 'tis but because they +were meant to be fitting companions for the men!</p> +<p>"Go to, child!--bring her here, and let us see what she says to +this mad errand of this mad boy.</p> +<p>"And you, young sir, whilst your sister is gone, tell me all you +saw and heard in the pest house! Marry, I like your spirit in going +thither! It is the one place I long to see myself; only I am too +old to go gadding hither and thither after fine sights!"</p> +<p>Joseph was quite willing to indulge the old lady's morbid +curiosity as to the sights he had seen yesterday and today, as he +had journeyed back into the city in the guise of a market lad. The +things were terrible enough to satisfy even Lady Scrope, who seemed +to rejoice in an uncanny fashion over the awful devastation going +on all round.</p> +<p>"I'm not a saint myself," she said with unwonted gravity, "and I +never set up for one, but many has been the time when I have warned +those about me that God would not stand aside for ever looking on +at these abominations. The means were ready to His hand, and He has +taken them and used them as a scourge. And He will scourge this +wicked city yet again, if men will not amend their evil +practices."</p> +<p>Next minute Gertrude and Dorcas came running in together, and +Gertrude almost flung herself into Joseph's arms in her eager +gratitude to him for his news, and her desire to hear everything he +could tell her.</p> +<p>Such a clamour of voices then arose as fairly drowned any remark +that Lady Scrope tried from time to time to throw in. Her old face +took a suddenly softened look as she watched the little scene, and +heard the words that passed amongst the young people. Presently she +went tapping away on her high-heeled shoes, and was absent for some +ten or fifteen minutes. When she came back she held in her hands a +small iron-bound box, which seemed to be very heavy for its +size.</p> +<p>"Well," she asked in her clear, sharp tones, "and what is going +to be done next?"</p> +<p>"O madam, I am going to him. I can do naught else," answered +Gertrude, whose face was like an April morning, all smiles and +tears blended together. "I cannot let him lie wanting me and +wearying for me."</p> +<p>"Humph! I thought you had shown yourself a girl of spirit, and +had sent him about his business when he came a-wooing, eh?"</p> +<p>"O madam, I did so. I thought that duty bid me; but I have +repented so bitterly since! They say that 'twas since then he fell +into the melancholy which was like to make him fall ill of the +distemper. Oh, if he were to die, I should feel his blood on my +head. I should never hold it up again. I cannot let anything keep +me from him now. I must go to him in my poverty and tell him all. +He must be the judge!"</p> +<p>Lady Scrope uttered a little snort, although her face bore no +unkindly look.</p> +<p>"Child, child, thou art a veritable woman! I had thought better +things of thee, but thou art just like the rest. Thou wilt gladly +lie down in the dust, so as the one man shall trample upon thee, +whilst thou dost adore him the more for it. Go to! go to! Maids and +lovers be all alike. Fools every one of them! But for all that I +like thee. I have an old woman's fancy for thee. And since in these +days none may reckon on seeing the face of a departing friend +again, I give now into thine hands the wedding gift I have had in +mine eyes for thee.</p> +<p>"Nay, thank me not; and open it not save at the bedside of thy +betrothed husband--if thou art fool enough to betroth thyself to +one who as like as not will die of the plague before the week is +out.</p> +<p>"And now off with you both. If you tarry too long, the watch +will not believe you to be honest market folks, and will hinder +your flight. Good luck go with you; and when ye be come to the city +again--if ever that day arrive--come hither and tell me all the +tale of your folly and love. Although a wise woman myself, I have a +wondrous love of hearing tales of how other folks make havoc of +their lives by their folly."</p> +<p>Gertrude took the box, which amazed her by its weight, and +suggested ideas of value quite out of keeping with what she had any +reason to expect from one so little known to her as Lady Scrope. +She thanked the donor with shy gratitude, and pressed the withered +hand to her fresh young lips. Lady Scrope, a little moved despite +her cynical fashion of talking, gave her several affectionate +kisses; and then the other girls came in to see the last of their +companion, and to charge her with many messages of love for +Reuben.</p> +<p>Joseph during this interval darted round to his father's house, +to exchange a kiss with his mother and tell her the good news. It +was indeed a happy day for the parents to hear that the son whom +they had given up for lost was living, and likely, under Gertrude's +care, to do well. They had not dared to murmur or repine. It seemed +to them little short of a miracle that death had spared to them all +their children through this fearful season. When they believed one +had at last been taken, they had learned the strength and courage +to say, "God's will be done." Yet it was happiness inexpressible to +know that he was not only living, but in the safe retreat of Mary +Harmer's cottage, and under her tender and skilful care.</p> +<p>So used were they now to the thought of those they loved caring +for the sick, that they had almost ceased to fear contagion so +encountered. It appeared equally busy amongst those who fled from +it. They did not even chide Joseph for the reckless curiosity which +had led the boys to adventure themselves without cause in the +fashion that had led to such notable results.</p> +<p>When Joseph returned to Lady Scrope's, it was to find Gertrude +arrayed in the clothes provided for her, and looking, save for her +dainty prettiness, quite like a country girl come in with +marketable wares. Such things of her own as she needed for her +sojourn, together with Lady Scrope's precious box, were put into +the barrow beneath the empty basket and sacks. Then with many +affectionate farewells the pair started forth, and talking eagerly +all the while, took their way through the solitary grass-grown +streets, away through Cripplegate, and out towards the pleasanter +regions beyond the walls.</p> +<p>Joseph sought to engross his companion in talk, so that she +might not see or heed too much the dismal aspect of all around +them. He himself had seen a considerable difference in the city +between the time he and Benjamin had left it and today. In places +it almost seemed as though no living soul now remained; and he +observed that foot passengers in the streets went about more +recklessly than before, with a set and desperate expression of +countenance, as though they had made up their minds to the worst, +and cared little whether their fate overtook them today or a week +hence.</p> +<p>Gertrude's thoughts, however, were so much with Reuben, that she +heeded but little of what she saw around her. She spoke of him +incessantly, and begged again and again to hear the story of how he +had been found. Her cheek flushed a delicate rose tint each time +she heard how he had called for her ceaselessly in his delirium. +That showed her, if nothing else could convince her of it, how true +and disinterested his love was; that it was for herself he had +always wooed her, and not for any hope of the fortune she had at +one time looked to receive from her father as her marriage +dowry.</p> +<p>When they had passed the last of the houses, and stood in the +sunny meadows, with the blue sky above them and the songs of birds +in their ears, Gertrude heaved a great sigh of relief, and her eyes +filled with tears.</p> +<p>"O beautiful trees and fields!" she cried; "it seems as though +nothing of danger and death could overshadow the dwellers in such +fair places."</p> +<p>"So Benjamin and I thought," said Joseph gravely; "but, alas, +the plague has been busy here, too. See, there is a cluster of +houses down there, and but three of them are now inhabited. The +pestilence came and smote right and left, and in some houses not +one was left alive. Still death seems not so terrible here amid +these smiling fields as it does when men are pent together in +streets and lanes. And the dead at first could be buried in their +own gardens by their friends, if they could not take them to the +churchyards, which soon refused to receive them. Many were thus +saved from the horror of the plague pit, which they so greatly +dreaded. But I know not whether it is a wise kindness so to bury +them; for there were hamlets, I am told, where the plague raged +fearfully, and where the living could scarce bury the dead."</p> +<p>Gertrude sighed; death and trouble did indeed seem everywhere. +But even her sorrow for others could not mar her happiness in the +prospect of seeing Reuben once again; and as they neared the place, +and Joseph pointed out the twisted chimneys and thatched roof +peeping through the sheltering trees and shrubs, the girl could not +restrain her eager footsteps, and flew on in advance of her +companion, who was retarded by his barrow.</p> +<p>The next minute she was eagerly kissing Benjamin (who, together +with Fido, had run out at the sound of her footsteps), and shedding +tears of joy at the news that Reuben was no worse, that there were +now no symptoms of the plague about him, but that he was perilously +weak, and needed above all things that his mind should be set at +rest.</p> +<p>At the sound of voices Mary Harmer came softly downstairs from +the sick man's side, and divining in a moment who the stranger was, +took her into a warm, motherly embrace, and thanked her again and +again for coming so promptly.</p> +<p>"Nay, it is I must thank thee for letting me come," answered +Gertrude between smiles and tears. "And now, may I not go to him? I +would not lose a moment. I am hungry for the sight of his living +face. Prithee, let me go!"</p> +<p>"So thou shalt, my child, in all good speed; but just at this +moment he sleeps, and thou must refresh thyself after thy long, hot +walk, that thou mayest be better able to tend him. I will not keep +thee from him, be sure, when the time comes that thou mayest go to +him."</p> +<p>Joseph at that moment came up with the barrow, and Gertrude +found that it was pleasant and refreshing to let Mary Harmer bathe +her face and hands and array her in her own garments. And then she +sat down to a pleasant meal of fresh country provisions, which +tasted so different from anything she had eaten these many long +weeks.</p> +<p>The boys, who as a precautionary measure were keeping away from +the house itself until it should be quite certain that their +brother was free from infection, took their meal on the grass plot +outside, and enjoyed it mightily.</p> +<p>The whole scene was so different from anything upon which +Gertrude's eyes had rested for long, that tears would rise unbidden +in them, though they were tears of happiness and gratitude. The dog +Fido took to her at once, and showed her many intelligent +attentions, and was so useful altogether in fetching and carrying +that his cleverness and docility were a constant source of +amusement and wonder to all, and gave endless delight to the boys, +who spent all their spare time in training him.</p> +<p>Then just when the afternoon shadows were beginning to lengthen, +and the light to grow golden with the mellow September glow, +Gertrude was softly summoned to the pleasant upper chamber, which +smelt sweetly of lavender, rose leaves, and wild thyme, where +beside the open casement lay Reuben, in a snow-white bed, his face +sadly wasted and white, and his eyes closed as if in the lassitude +of utter weakness.</p> +<p>Mary gave Gertrude a smile, and motioned her to go up to him, +which she did very softly and with a beating heart. He did not +appear to note her footfall; but when she stood beside him, and +gently spoke his name, his eyes flashed open in a moment, and fixed +themselves upon her face, their expression growing each moment more +clear and comprehending.</p> +<p>"Gertrude!" he breathed in a voice whose weakness told a tale of +its own, and he moved his hand as though he would fain ascertain by +the sense of touch whether or not this was a dream.</p> +<p>She saw the movement, and took his hand between her own, +kneeling down beside the bed and covering it with kisses and +tears.</p> +<p>That seemed to tell him all, without the medium of words. He +asked no question, he only lay gazing at her with a deep +contentment in his eyes. He probably knew not either where he was, +or how any of these strange things came to pass. She was with him; +she was his very own. Of that there could be no manner of doubt. +And that being so, what did anything else matter? He lay gazing at +her perfectly contented, till he fell asleep holding her hand in +his.</p> +<p>That was the beginning of a steady if rather a slow recovery. It +was only natural indeed that Reuben should be long in regaining +strength. He had been through months of fatigue and arduous wearing +toil, and the marvel was that when the distemper attacked him in +his weakness and depression he had strength enough to throw it off. +As Mary Harmer said, it seemed sometimes as though those who went +fearlessly amongst the plague stricken became gradually inoculated +with the poison, and were thus able to rid themselves of it when it +did attack them. Reuben at least had soon thrown off his attack, +and the state of weakness into which he had fallen was less the +result of the plague than of his long and arduous labours +before.</p> +<p>How he ever came to be in the pest house of Clerkenwell he never +could altogether explain. He remembered that business had called +him out in a northwesterly direction; and he had a dim recollection +of feeling a sick longing for a sight of the country once more, and +of bending his steps further than he need, whilst he fancied he had +entertained some notion of paying a visit to his aunt, and making +sure that his brothers had safely reached her abode. That was +probably the reason why he had come so far away from home. He had +been feeling miserably restless and wretched ever since Gertrude +had refused him, and upon that day he had an overpowering sense of +illness and weariness upon him, too. But he did not remember +feeling any alarm, or any premonition of coming sickness. He had +grown so used to escaping when others were stricken down all round, +that the sense of uncertainty which haunted all men at the +commencement of the outbreak had almost left him now. It could only +be supposed that the fever of the pestilence had come upon him, and +that he had dropped by the wayside, as so many did, and had been +carried into the farm house by some compassionate person, or by one +of the bearers whose duty it was to keep the highways clear of such +objects of public peril. But he knew nothing of his own condition, +and had had no real gleam of consciousness, until he opened his +eyes in his aunt's house to find Gertrude bending over him.</p> +<p>There was no shadow between them now. Gertrude's surrender was +as complete as Lady Scrope had foreseen. She used now to laugh with +Reuben over the sayings of that redoubtable old dame, and wonder +what she would think of them could she see them now. The box she +had entrusted to Gertrude had been given into Mary Harmer's care +for the present, till Reuben should be strong enough to enjoy the +excitement of opening it. But upon the first day that saw him down +in the little parlour, lying upon the couch that had been made +ready to receive him, Joseph eagerly clamoured to have the box +brought down and opened; and his wish being seconded by all, Mary +Harmer quickly produced it, and it was set upon a little table at +the side of the couch.</p> +<p>"Have you the key?" asked Reuben of Gertrude, and she produced +it from her neck, round which it had been hanging all this while by +a silken cord.</p> +<p>"It felt almost like a love token," she said with a little +blush, "for she told me I was not to open it save at the side of my +betrothed husband!"</p> +<p>Now, amid breathless silence, she fitted the key into the lock +and raised the lid. That disclosed a layer of soft packing, which, +when removed, left the contents exposed to view.</p> +<p>"Oh!" cried Joseph and Benjamin in tones of such wonder that +Fido must needs rear himself upon his hind legs to get a peep, too; +but he was soon satisfied, for he saw nothing very interesting in +the yellow contents of the wooden box, which neither smelt nice nor +were good for food. But the lovers looked across at each other in +speechless amazement.</p> +<p>For the box was filled to the brim with neatly piled heaps of +golden guineas--the first guineas ever struck in this country; so +called from the fact that they were made of Guinea gold brought +from Africa by one of the trading companies, and first coined in +the year 1662. And a quick calculation, based upon the counting of +one of these upright heaps, showed that the box contained five +hundred of these golden coins, which as yet were only just coming +into general circulation.</p> +<p>"Oh," cried Gertrude in amaze, "what can she have done it for? +And they call Lady Scrope a miser!"</p> +<p>"Misers often have strange fancies; and Lady Scrope has always +been one of the strangest and most unaccountable of her sex," said +Reuben. "I cannot explain it one whit. It is of a piece with much +of her inscrutable life. All we can do is to give her our gratitude +for her munificence. She has neither kith nor kin to wrong by her +strange liberality to thee, sweet Gertrude; nor can I marvel that +she should have come to love thee so well. Sweet heart, this money +will purchase the house upon the bridge which thy father tells us +he is forced to sell. I had thought that I would buy it of him for +our future home. But thou hast the first claim. At least, now the +place is safe. What is mine is thine, and what is thine is mine, +and we will together make the purchase, and give him a home with us +beneath the old roof.</p> +<p>"Will that make you happy, dear heart? Methinks it will please +Lady Scrope that her golden hoard should help in such an act of +filial love!"</p> +<p>And Gertrude could only weep tears of pure happiness on her +lover's shoulder, and marvel how it was that such untold joy had +come to her in the midst of the very shadow of death.</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. BRIGHTER +DAYS.</a></h2> +<p>"The plague is abating! the plague is abating! The bills were +lower by two thousand last week! They say the city is like to go +mad with joy. I would fain go and see what is happening there. +Prithee, good aunt, let me e'en do so much. I shall take no hurt. +Methinks, having escaped all peril heretofore, I may be accounted +safe now."</p> +<p>This was Joseph's eager petition as he rushed homewards after a +stroll in the direction of the town one evening early in October. +There had been rumours of an improvement in the health of the city +for perhaps ten days now, notwithstanding the fearful mortality +during the greater part of September. Therefore were the weekly +bills most eagerly looked for, and when it was ascertained that the +mortality had diminished by two thousand (when, from the number of +sick, it might well have risen by that same amount), it did indeed +seem as though the worst were over; and great was the joy which +Joseph's news brought to those within the walls of that cottage +home.</p> +<p>Yet Mary Harmer was wise and cautious in the answer she gave to +the eager boy.</p> +<p>"Wait yet one week longer, Joseph; for we may not presume upon +God's goodness and mercy, and adventure ourselves without cause +into danger. The city has been fearfully ravaged of late. The very +air seems to have been poisoned and tainted, and there are streets +and lanes which, they say, it is even now death to enter. Therefore +wait yet another week, and then we will consider what is safe to be +done. Right glad should I be for news of your father and mother; +but we have been patient this long while, and we will be patient +still."</p> +<p>"Our good aunt is wise," said Reuben, who looked wonderfully +better for his stay in fresh country air, albeit still rather gaunt +and pale. "It is like that this good news itself may lead men to be +somewhat reckless in their joy and confidence. We will not move +till we have another report. Perchance our father may be able to +let us know ere long of his welfare and that of the rest at +home."</p> +<p>All through the week that followed encouraging and cheering +reports of the abatement of the plague were heard by those living +on the outskirts of the stricken city; and when the next week's +bill showed a further enormous decrease in the death rate, Mary +Harmer permitted Joseph to pay a visit home, his return being +eagerly waited for in the cottage. He came just as the early +twilight was drawing in, and his face was bright and joyous.</p> +<p>"It is like another city," he cried. "I had not thought there +could be so many left as I saw in the streets today. And they went +about shaking each other by the hand, and smiling, and even +laughing aloud in their joy. And if they saw a shut-up house, and +none looking forth from the windows, some one would stand and shout +aloud till those within looked out, and then he would tell them the +good news that the plague was abating; and at that sound many poor +creatures would fall a-weeping, and praise the Lord that He had +left even a remnant."</p> +<p>"Poor creatures!" said Mary Harmer with commiseration; "it has +been a dismal year for thousands upon thousands!"</p> +<p>"Ay, verily. I cannot think that London will ever be full +again," said the boy. "There be whole streets with scarce an +inhabitant left, and we know that multitudes of those who fled died +of the pestilence on the road and in other places. But today there +was no memory for the misery of the past, only joy that the scourge +was abating. It is not that many do not still fall ill of the +distemper, but that they recover now, where once they would have +died. And whereas three weeks back they died in a day or two days, +now even if so be as they do die, it takes the poison eight or ten +days to kill them. The physicians say that that is because the +malignity of the distemper is abating, wherefore men scarce fear it +now, and come freely abroad, not in despair, as they did when it +was so virulent a scourge, but because they fear it so much less +than before."</p> +<p>"And our parents and those at home?" asked Reuben eagerly.</p> +<p>"All well, though something weary and worn; but it is wondrous +how they have borne up all through. Father says that he will come +hither to see us all the first moment he can. His duties are like +to have a speedy end; and he is longing for a sight of Reuben's +face, and of something better than closed houses and the wan faces +of the sick or the mourners."</p> +<p>"Poor brother James!" said Mary softly; "I would that he and his +would leave the city behind for a while, and remain under my roof +to recover their strength and health. It must have been a sorely +trying time. Think you that they could leave the house together? +For we would make shift to receive them all, an they could +come."</p> +<p>This was a most delightful idea to all the party. The hospitable +cottage had plenty of rooms, although many of these were but attics +beneath the thatched roof, none too light or commodious. In summer +they might have been too warm and stuffy to be agreeable sleeping +places, but in the cooler autumn they would be good enough for +hardy young folks brought up simply and plainly.</p> +<p>Joseph and Benjamin at once dashed all over the place, making +plans for the housing of the whole party. It would be the finest +end to a melancholy period, being all together here in this +homelike place.</p> +<p>Everything was duly arranged in the hopes of winning the +father's consent to the scheme. Mary Harmer hunted up stores of +bedding and linen, the latter of her own weaving, and every day +they waited impatiently for the appearing of James Harmer, who, +however, was unaccountably long in making his appearance.</p> +<p>He came at last, but it was with a sorrowful face and a bowed +look which told at once a story of trouble, and made the whole +party stand silent, after the first eager chorus of welcome, +certain that he was the bearer of bad news.</p> +<p>"My poor boy Dan!" he said in a choked voice, and sat himself +heavily down upon the chair beside the hearth.</p> +<p>"Dan!" cried Reuben, and the word was echoed by all the brothers +in tones of varying surprise and dismay. "You do not mean that he +is dead!"</p> +<p>"Taken to the plague pit a week ago. Just when all the world is +rejoicing in the thought that the distemper is abating. Dr. Hooker +spoke truly when he said that the confidence of the people was like +to be a greater peril than the disease itself. For those who are +sick now come openly abroad into the streets, no longer afraid for +themselves or others, and thus it has come about that no man knows +whether he is safe, and my poor boy has been taken."</p> +<p>Sad indeed were the faces of all, and the two little boys were +dissolved in tears, as their father told how poor Dan had fallen +sick, and had succumbed on the fourth day to the poison.</p> +<p>"Dr. Hooker said that he was worn out with his unceasing +labours, else he would not have died," said the sorrowful father. +"He had treated many worse cases even when things were worse, and +brought them round. But Dan was worn out with all he had been doing +for the past months. He fell an easy prey; and he did not suffer +much, thank God. He lay mostly in a torpor, much as Reuben did, as +I hear, but slowly sank away. His poor mother! She had begun to +think that she was to have all her children about her yet. But in +truth we must not repine, having so many left to us, when they say +there is scarce a family in all the town that has not lost its two, +three, or four at best!"</p> +<p>It almost seemed a more sorrowful thing to lose Dan just when +things were beginning to look brighter, than it would have done +when the distemper was at its height. But as the good man said, +gratitude for so many spared ought to outweigh any repining for +those taken. After the first tears were shed, he gently checked in +those about him the inclination to mourn, saying that God knew +best, and had dealt very lovingly and bountifully with them; and +that they must trust His goodness and mercy all through, and +believe that He had judged mercifully and tenderly in taking their +brother from them.</p> +<p>The sight of Reuben alive and well did much to assuage the +father's grief; for there had been a time when he had not thought +to look upon the face of his firstborn in this life. He was also +greatly pleased to learn that he had another daughter in the person +of gentle Gertrude, and he gladly undertook the negotiation of the +purchase of his neighbour's house, so that he should not know who +the purchaser was until the right moment came.</p> +<p>Mary Harmer's proposal to take in the whole family for a spell +of fresh air and rest was gratefully accepted by the tired +father.</p> +<p>"I trow it would be the greatest boon for all of us, and may +likely save us from some peril," he said, "for, as I say, men seem +to be gone mad with joy that the malignity of the plague is so +greatly abating, and that the houses are no longer closed. For my +own part, I would they were closed yet a little longer; but the +impatience of the people would not now permit it, and they having +shown themselves in the main docile and obedient these many months, +must be considered now that the worst of the peril is past. When +the plague was at its worst last month, there was of necessity some +relaxation of stringent measures, because there were times when +neither watchmen nor nurses could be found, and common humanity +forbade us to close houses when the inhabitants could not get +tendance in the prescribed way. Moreover, a sort of desperation was +bred in men's minds, and the fear was the less because that every +man thought his own turn would assuredly come ere long. So that +when of a sudden the bills began to decrease, it seemed +unreasonable to be more strict than we had been just before. +Moreover, it was found harder to restrain the people in their joy +than in their sorrow; and so we must hope for the best, and trust +that the lessened malignity of the disease will keep down the +mortality. For that there will continue to be many sick for weeks +to come we cannot doubt. As for myself, knowing and fearing all I +do, nothing would more please and comfort me than to bring my wife +and girls hither to this safe spot. I had not dared to think you +could take such a party, Mary; but since you have already made +provision for us, why, the sooner we all get forth from the city, +the better will it please me."</p> +<p>Great was the joy in the cottage occasioned by this answer. +Sorrow for the loss of poor Dan was almost forgotten in joyful +preparation. Dan had not been much at home for many years, only +coming and going as his ship chanced to put into port in the river +or not. Therefore his loss was not felt as that of Reuben would +have been. It seemed a sad and grievous thing, after having escaped +so many perils, to come to his death at last; but so many families +had suffered such infinitely greater loss, that repining and +mourning seemed almost wrong. And the thought of seeing all the +home faces once more was altogether too delightful to admit of much +admixture of grief.</p> +<p>"I wonder if Dorcas will come," said Gertrude, as they hung +about the door awaiting the arrival which was expected every +minute.</p> +<p>Three days had now passed since James Harmer's first visit, and +he was to bring his wife and daughters in the afternoon, and stay +the night himself, returning on the morrow to transact some +necessary business, but spending much of his time with his family +in this pleasant spot.</p> +<p>Gertrude had offered to leave, if there were not room for her; +but in truth she scarce knew where to go, since of her father she +had heard very little of late, and knew not how long his house +would be his own.</p> +<p>No one, however, would hear of such a thing as that she should +leave them. She was already like a sister to the boys, and had in +old days been as one to the girls. Moreover, as Mary Harmer +sometimes said, why should not she and Reuben be quietly married +out here before they returned to the city, and then they could go +back to their own house when all the negotiations had been +completed and her father's mind relieved of its load of care?</p> +<p>"Why should Dorcas not come?" asked Mary quickly. "My brother +spoke of bringing all."</p> +<p>"I was wondering if Lady Scrope would be willing to spare her," +was the reply. "She is fond of Dorcas in her way, and is used to +her. She might not be willing she should go, and she is very +determined when her mind is made up."</p> +<p>"Yet I think she has a kind heart in spite of all her odd ways," +said Mary Harmer; "I scarce think she would keep the girl pining +there alone. But we shall see. My wonder would rather be if Janet +and Rebecca could get free from the other house where the children +are kept."</p> +<p>"Father said that that house was to be emptied soon. The Lord +Mayor is making many wise regulations for the support of those left +destitute by the plague. Large sums of money kept flowing in all +the while the scourge lasted. The king sent large contributions, +and other wealthy men followed his example. There be many widows +left alone and desolate, and these are to have a sum of money and +certain orphan children to care for. All that will be settled +speedily; for who knows when my Lady Scrope's house may not be +wanted by the tenant who ran away in such hot haste months ago? It +will need purifying, too, and directions will shortly be issued, I +take it, for the right purification of infected houses.</p> +<p>"My sisters will soon get their burdens off their hands. It is +time they had a change; they were looking worn and tired even +before I left the city."</p> +<p>"They are coming! they are coming! They are just here!" shouted +Joseph and Benjamin in one breath, coming rushing down from a +vantage post up to which they had climbed in one of the great elm +trees. "They must all be there--every one of them! It is like a +caravan along the road; but I know it is they, for we saw father +leading a horse, and mother was riding it--with such a lot of bags +and bundles!"</p> +<p>The next minute the caravan hove in sight through the windings +of the lane, and three minutes later there was such a confusion of +welcomes going on that nothing intelligible could be said on either +side; nor was it until the whole party was assembled round the +table in Mary Harmer's pleasant kitchen, ready to do justice to the +good cheer provided, that any kind of conversation could be +attempted.</p> +<p>The sisters felt like prisoners released. They laughed and cried +as they danced about the garden in the twilight, stooping down to +lay their faces against the cool, wet grass, and drinking in the +scented air as though it were something to be tasted by palate and +tongue.</p> +<p>"It is so beautiful! it is so wonderful!" they kept exclaiming +one to the other, and the quaint, rambling cottage, with its bare +floor, and simple, homely comforts, seemed every whit as +charming.</p> +<p>Dorcas was there, as well as Janet and Rebecca; and the three +sisters, together with Gertrude, were to share a pair of attics +with a door of communication between them.</p> +<p>They were delighted with everything. They kept laughing and +kissing each other for sheer joy of heart; and although a sigh, and +a murmur of "Poor Dan! if only he could be here!" would break at +intervals from one or another, yet in the intense joy of this +meeting, and in the sense of escape from the city in which they had +been so long imprisoned, all but thankfulness and delight must +needs be forgotten, and it was a ring of wonderfully happy faces +that shone on Mary Harmer at the supper board that night.</p> +<p>"This is indeed a kindly welcome, sister," said Rachel, as she +sat at her husband's right hand, looking round upon the dear faces +she had scarce dared hope to see thus reunited for so many weary +weeks; "I could have desired nothing better for all of us. Thou +canst scarcely know how it does feel to be free once more, to be +able to go where one will, without vinegar cloths to one's face, +and to feel that the air is a thing to breathe with healing and +delight, instead of to be feared lest there be death in its kiss! +Ah me! I think God does not let us know how terrible a thing is +till His chastening hand is removed. We go on from day to day, and +He gives us strength for each day as it comes; but had we known at +the beginning what lay before us, methinks our souls would have +well nigh fainted within us. And yet here we are--all but one--safe +and sound at the other side!"</p> +<p>"I truly never thought to see such fearful sights, and to come +through such a terrible time of trial," said Dinah very gravely. +She was one of the party included in Mary Harmer's hospitable +invitation, and looked indeed more in need of the rest and change +than any of the others. Her brother had had some ado to get her to +quit her duties as nurse to the sick even yet, but it was not +difficult now to get tendance for them, and she felt so greatly the +need of rest that she had been persuaded at last.</p> +<p>"Many and many are the times when I have been left the only +living being in a house--once, so far as I could tell, the only +living thing in a whole street! None may know, save those who have +been through it, the awful loneliness of being so shut in, with +nothing near but dead bodies. And yet the Lord has brought me +through, and only one of our number has been taken."</p> +<p>The mother's eyes filled with tears, but her heart was too +thankful for those spared her to let her grief be loud. One after +another those round the table spoke of the things they had seen and +heard; but presently the talk drifted to brighter themes. Gertrude +asked eagerly of her father, and where he was and what he was +doing; and Mary Harmer asked if he would not come and join them, if +her house could be made to hold another inmate.</p> +<p>"He is well in health, but looks aged and harassed," was the +answer of the father. "He has had sad losses. Half-finished houses +have been thrown back on his hands through the death of those who +had commenced them; he has been robbed of his stores of costly +merchandise; and poor Frederick's debts have mounted up to a great +sum. Now that people are flocking back into the city, and business +is reviving once more, he will have to meet his creditors, and can +only do this by the sale of his house. I saw him yesterday, and +told him I had heard of a purchaser already; whereat he was right +glad, fearing that he might be long in selling, since men might +fear to come back to the city, and whilst there were so many +hundreds of houses left empty. If he can once get rid of his load +of debt, he can strive to begin business again in a modest way. +But, to be sure, it will be long before any houses will need to be +built; the puzzle will be how to fill those that are left empty. I +fear me he will find things hard for a while. But if he has a home +with you, my children, and if we all give what help we can, I doubt +not that little by little he may recover a part of what he has +lost. He will be wise not to try so many different callings. If he +had not had so many ventures afloat in these troubled times, he +would not now have lost his all."</p> +<p>"That was poor mother's wish," said Gertrude softly; "she wanted +to be rich quickly for Frederick's sake. I used to hear father tell +her that the risk was too great; but she did not seem able to +understand aright. I do not think it was father's own wish."</p> +<p>"That is what I always said," answered James Harmer heartily; +"and I trow things will be greatly better now, if once trade makes +a start again. As for us, we have lost a summer's trade, but, +beyond that, all has been well with us. We have had the fewer +outgoings, and so soon as the gentry and the Court come back again +we shall be as busy as ever. The plague has done us little harm, +for we had no great ventures afloat to miscarry, and had money laid +by against any time of necessity."</p> +<p>That evening, before the party retired to rest, the father +gathered his children and all the household about him, and offered +a fervent thanksgiving for their preservation during this time of +peril. After that they all separated to their own rooms, and the +girls sat long together ere they sought their couches, talking, as +girls will talk, of all that had happened to them, and of the +coming marriage of Gertrude and their brother, over which they +heartily rejoiced.</p> +<p>"I must e'en let Lady Scrope know when it is to be," said +Dorcas, "if I can make shift to do so. I trow she would like to be +there. She has taken a wondrous liking to thee, Gertrude, and she +says she has a fine opinion of Reuben, too. I know not quite what +she has heard of him, but so it is."</p> +<p>"I was fearful lest she should not be willing to spare thee, +Dorcas," said Gertrude with a caress, "but here thou art with the +rest."</p> +<p>"Yes, she was wondrous good to us," said Janet eagerly, "else I +scarce know how we could have come, for there were six children +left in the house, and no homes yet found for them to go to. They +were the sickly ones whom we feared to part with, and father said +they would strive to get places for them in the country. When we +heard what our kind aunt wished, we saw not how we could leave the +little ones; but Lady Scrope, she up and chid us well for silly, +puling fools, who thought the world could not wag without our help. +And then she sent out and got two nice, comfortable, honest widow +women to live in the house with the children. And one of them had a +neat-fingered daughter, who had been in good service till the +plague sent her family into the country and she was packed off +home. Her she took for her maid, and sent Dorcas off with us. Sure, +never was a sharper tongue and a kinder heart in one body together! +I had never thought to like Lady Scrope one-tenth part as well as I +do."</p> +<p>Those were happy days that followed. It was pure delight to the +sisters to wander about the green fields and lanes, watching the +play of light and shadow there, hearing the songs of the birds, and +seeing the gorgeous pageantry of autumn clothing the trees with all +manner of wondrous tints and hues. Reuben knew the neighbourhood by +that time, and was their companion in their rambles; and happy were +the hours thus spent, only less happy than the meetings round the +glowing hearth or hospitable table later on, when the news of the +day would be told and retold.</p> +<p>James Harmer went frequently into the city to see after certain +things, and to ascertain that his own and his neighbour's houses +were safe. What he saw and heard there day by day made him +increasingly glad that big family had found so safe a retreat; for +there was still some considerable peril to the dwellers in the +city, owing, more than anything, to the utter carelessness of the +people now that the immediate scare was removed.</p> +<p>The same men who had shrunk away from all contact with even +sound persons six weeks ago, would now actually visit and hold +converse with those who had the disease upon them. Persons +afflicted with tumours that were still active and therefore +infectious would walk openly about the streets, none seeming to +object to their presence even in crowded thoroughfares. It seemed +as though joy at the abatement of the pestilence had wrought a sort +of madness in the brains and hearts of the people. So long as the +death rate decreased, and the cases were no longer so fatal in +character, there seemed no way of making the citizens observe +proper precautions, and, as many averred, the malady increased and +spread, although not in nearly so fatal a form, as it never need +have done but for the recklessness of the multitudes.</p> +<p>One very sorrowful case was brought home to the Harmers, because +it happened to some worthy neighbours of their own who had lived +opposite to them for many a year.</p> +<p>When first the alarm was given that the plague had entered +within the city walls, this man had hastily decided to quit London +with his wife and family and seek an asylum in the country, and had +earnestly urged the Harmers to do the same. For many months nothing +had been heard of them; but with the first abatement of the malady +the father had appeared, and had asked advice from Harmer as to how +soon he might bring home his family, who were all sound and well. +His friend advised him to wait another month at least; but he +laughed such counsel to scorn, and just before the Harmers +themselves started for Islington, their friends had settled +themselves in their old house opposite.</p> +<p>Ten days later Harmer heard with great dismay that three of the +children had taken the plague and had died. By the end of the week +there was not one of the family alive save the unhappy man himself, +and he went about like one distraught, so that his reason or his +life seemed like to pay the forfeit.</p> +<p>It was no wonder, in the hearing of such stories as these--of +which there were many--that Mary Harmer rejoiced to have her +brother's household safely housed and out of danger, and that she +earnestly begged them to remain with her at least until the merry +Christmastide should be overpast.</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. A CHRISTMAS +WEDDING.</a></h2> +<p>"I never thought to see daughter of mine wedded from the house +of a neighbour," said the Master Builder (whose title yet clung to +him, albeit there was something of mockery in the sound), heaving a +sigh as he looked into the happy face of his child. "But a homeless +man must needs do the best he can; and our good friends have won +the right to play the part of kinsfolk towards us both."</p> +<p>"Indeed--indeed they have, dear father," answered Gertrude; +"thou canst not think how happy I have been here in this sweet +cottage, nor what a home it has been to us all these weeks. I shall +be almost loth to leave it on the morrow--at least I should be, +were it not for the great happiness coming into my life. But the +home to which Reuben will take me must be even dearer than this. +And thou wilt come with us, sweet father, and make us happy by thy +presence!"</p> +<p>"Ay, child, if thou wilt have the homeless old man who has +managed his affairs so ill as to have to start life afresh when he +should be thinking of resigning his work into other hands, and +passing his old age in peace and--"</p> +<p>But Gertrude stopped him with a kiss.</p> +<p>"Thou art not old, father; and I trow before thou art, a +peaceful and prosperous old age will be in store for thee. Whilst +Reuben and I live, nothing shall lack to thee that filial love can +bestow. O dearest father! methinks there are bright and happy days +before us yet."</p> +<p>"I trust so--I trust so, my child, for thee especially. For thou +dost deserve them. Thou hast been a good daughter, and wilt make a +good wife."</p> +<p>"My heart misgives me sometimes that I was not always so tender +a daughter to poor mother as I fain would have been. May God pardon +me in whatever way I may have erred!"</p> +<p>"The error was more hers than thine," answered the father with a +sigh; "and mine too, inasmuch as I checked her not early, as I +perchance might have done. She would have wed thee with some needy +and perhaps evil-living gallant, who would have taken thee for thy +fortune. Thou hast done far better to choose such an honest, godly +youth as Reuben. He will make thee an excellent husband."</p> +<p>"Ah, will he not!" said Gertrude, her face alight with tender +love. "Poor mother did not understand what she was doing in +striving to banish him from the house. But methinks, in the land of +spirits all these things are seen aright; and that if it is +permitted to the dead to know aught of what passes in the land they +have left behind, she will be rejoicing with us today."</p> +<p>"Heaven send it may be so! My poor wife," and the father heaved +a great sigh of mixed feelings, "it is well she has not lived to +see this end to her schemings to be rich. At least she is spared +the knowledge of her husband's ruin."</p> +<p>"Nay, call it not that, dear father. Master Harmer says that +things are beginning to look up again after the terrible +visitation, and surely your affairs will look up likewise."</p> +<p>"In a measure, yes," he answered. "I have at least sold the old +house for a better sum than I expected; and the purchaser has +bought all the rich furniture, save such things as I would not sell +for the sake of your poor mother. These I shall move shortly to +your home, my child. My good friend says that it is hard by his +house, so the journey will not be a difficult one."</p> +<p>"No, father," answered Gertrude, with glowing cheeks. "And who +has bought the old Bridge house?"</p> +<p>"Nay, I have not even had the heart to ask. My good friend has +carried out the business for me from first to last. He has been the +truest friend man ever had. I have had naught to do but to sign the +papers and receive the purchase money. No doubt the pang of seeing +others living there will pass in time, but just now I care not even +to think of it."</p> +<p>Gertrude's face was still glowing a rosy red, but she turned the +conversation at once.</p> +<p>"And thou art getting together a little business again, father, +on the Southwark side of the river?"</p> +<p>"Yes; that again is by the advice of our good neighbour. He +showed me that I could no longer afford the large buildings in the +Chepe. He heard of these small premises going a-begging for a +purchaser, all connected with them having perished in the plague. +The small sum left to me of the purchase money of the house, after +my debts were paid, sufficed to buy them; and now I have two steady +workmen in my employ, instead of the scores I once had. But God be +thanked, we have never been idle all these weeks. And it may be +that by-and-by, as confidence returns, I may get something of a +business together again."</p> +<p>"Thou hast been purifying and disinfecting houses, they say, for +the wealthy ones of the city?"</p> +<p>"Ay; that was our good friend's thought. The Lord Mayor and +authorities issued general directions for this work; and Harmer +suggested to me that I should print handbills offering to undertake +the purging of any house entrusted to me for a fixed fee. This I +did, and have had my hands full ever since. All the fine folks are +crowding back now that the cold weather has come, but no one cares +to venture within his house till it has been purified by the +burning of aromatic drugs and spices. The rich care not what they +spend, so that they are sure they are free from danger. As for the +poor, they do but burn tar or pitch or sulphur; and methinks these +do just as well, save that the odour which hangs about is not so +grateful to the senses. Yes, it was a happy thought of good James +Harmer, and has put money in my pocket enough to enable me to +undertake small building matters without borrowing. But I trow it +will be long ere any building is wanted in and about the city. +There are too many empty houses left there for that."</p> +<p>"Shall I see a wondrous change there when I go back, +father?"</p> +<p>"A change, but a wondrous small one compared to what one would +suppose," answered the father. "All men are amazed to see how +quickly the streets have filled, and how little of change there is +to note in the outward aspect of things. I had thought that half +the houses would be left empty; but I think there be not more than +one-eighth without inhabitants, and these are filling up apace. To +be sure, in the once crowded lanes and alleys there are far fewer +people than before; but it is wonderful to see how small the change +is; and life goes on just as of old. It is as if the calamity was +already half forgot!"</p> +<p>"Nay but, father, I trust it is not forgotten, and that men's +consciences are stirred, and that they have taken to heart the +warning of God's just anger."</p> +<p>The Master Builder slightly shook his head.</p> +<p>"I fear not, child, I fear not. I hear the same oaths and +blasphemies, the same ribald jests and ungodly talk, as of old. +They say the Court, which has lately returned to Whitehall, is as +gay and wanton as ever. In face of the terror of death, men did +resolve to amend their ways; but I fear me, that terror being past, +they do but make a mock of it, and return, like the sow in +Scripture, to their wallowing in the mire."</p> +<p>Gertrude looked gravely sorrowful for a moment; but, on the eve +of her wedding day, she could not be sorrowful long. She and her +father were enjoying a talk together before she sought her couch. +He had been unable to come earlier to see her, business matters +having detained him in town. For the past two months he had been at +work with his task of purifying and setting in order the houses of +the better-class people, for their return thither after the plague; +and though he had sent many affectionate messages to his daughter, +this was the first time for several weeks that they had met. It +could not but rankle in the father's heart that, for the time +being, he had no home to offer to his child. He had been staying +with his good friend James Harmer all this while, who had left his +wife and family at Islington to regain their full health and +strength, while he spent his time between the Bridge house and the +cottage. His business required his presence at home during a part +of the week, since his shopmen and apprentices had already +returned; but he would not permit his family to do so just yet, +deeming it better for them to remain with his sister, and to enjoy +with her a period of rest and refreshment which could never be +theirs in the busy life of home.</p> +<p>A happy Christmas had thus been spent; and now it was the eve of +Gertrude's wedding day, which was the one following Christmas Day. +The Master Builder had spent the festival with his friends, and on +the morrow would accompany his daughter and her husband to their +home in the city, the Harmer family returning to their house at the +same time, and bringing Mary with them on a visit after all her +hospitality to them.</p> +<p>By nine o'clock the next morning, the quiet little wedding party +was approaching the church, when to their surprise they beheld a +fine coach, drawn by four horses, drawing up at the gate of the +churchyard; and before Dorcas had more than time to exclaim, "Why, +it is my Lady Scrope herself!" they saw that diminutive but +remarkable old dame alighting from it, and walking nimbly up the +path towards the porch.</p> +<p>"I never dreamed she would really come, albeit I did let her +know the day according to promise--or rather to her command," said +her handmaiden, hurrying after her as if by instinct. The little +figure in its sables and strangely-fashioned velvet bonnet turned +at the sound of the quick footfall; and there stood the old lady +scanning the whole party with her bead-like eyes, and giving little +nods to this one and the other in response to their respectful +reverences.</p> +<p>"A pretty pair! a pretty pair!" was her comment upon the bridal +couple, who walked together, and who certainly looked very handsome +and happy. Reuben had regained strength and colour, though his face +was thinner and finer in outline than it had been before his +illness; and Gertrude had always been something of a beauty, and +had greatly improved in looks during these weeks of happiness.</p> +<p>"Well, well, well! I am always sorry for folks who are tying +burdens round their own necks; but some can do it with a better +grace than others.</p> +<p>"Now, child," and she turned to Gertrude, and rapped her cane +upon the ground, "don't make a fool of yourself or your husband! +Don't begin by thinking him the best man in the world; else he may +turn out all too soon to be the worst. Don't let him trample upon +you. Hold your own with him.</p> +<p>"Pooh! I might as well spare my words. Poor fools, they are all +alike at starting. They only learn to sing to another tune when +experience has taken them in hand for a while. Well, well, well! +'tis a pretty sight after all. I'll say no more. Give me your arm, +good Master Harmer, and let me have a good view of the tying of +this knot, so that there shall be no slipping out of it later."</p> +<p>James Harmer, with a bow which he made as courtly as he knew +how, offered his arm to the curious, little, old lady; and strange +it was to see her small, richly-clad, upright figure amongst the +simple group before the altar that day. Many there were who +wondered what had brought her, and amongst the party themselves +none could answer the question. It appeared to be one of those +freaks for which, in old days, Lady Scrope had made herself famous +throughout London, and the habit of which had not been overcome, +although the opportunities were growing smaller with advancing +years.</p> +<p>She insisted on accompanying the party back to Mary Harmer's +cottage. A simple collation was awaiting them before they travelled +back to the city. Lady Scrope looked with the greatest interest and +curiosity at the cottage; received the inquiring advances of Fido +very graciously; made the boys tell her all the history of his +attaching himself to them; and finally made herself the most +entertaining and agreeable guest at the board, although the +sharpness of her speech and the acid favour of some of her remarks +bred a little uneasiness in some of her auditors.</p> +<p>Nevertheless the time passed pleasantly enough; and when the +hands of the clock pointed to the hour of eleven, the lady rose to +her feet and remarked incisively:</p> +<p>"My coach will be here immediately, if the varlets play me not +false. The bride, bridegroom, and the bride's father shall drive +with me. I mean to see the maiden's house before I return to mine +own."</p> +<p>A glowing colour was in Gertrude's face. Now she began to have a +clearer idea why Lady Scrope was there. Reuben had been to her +once, and had asked her approval of their plan to expend the bulk +of the dowry she had, with such eccentric and unaccountable +generosity, bestowed upon the bride, upon the purchase of the house +which had been for many generations in the family of her father, +and which she loved well from old associations.</p> +<p>Reuben was going to set up in business for himself now. He had +long been contemplating this step, since his father's trade was +increasing steadily. They would now be partners, Reuben taking one +branch of the industry, and leaving his father the other. With the +changes in fashions, changes in the manufacture of Court luxuries +became necessary. Reuben would advance with the times, his father +would remain where he was before. It was a plan which had been +carefully considered by both father and son for long, and would +have been earlier carried out had it not been for the disastrous +stoppage of all trade during the visitation of the plague.</p> +<p>Now, however, London seemed as gay as ever. Orders were pouring +in. It was wonderful how little the gaps in the ranks seemed to be +heeded. It was scarcely, even amongst the upper classes, that +persons troubled to wear the deep mourning for departed friends +which, under ordinary circumstances, they would have done. The +great wish of all appeared to be to forget the awful visitation as +fast as possible, and to drown the memory of it in feasting and +revelry. And this spirit, however little to the liking of a godly +man like James Harmer, was nevertheless good for his trade.</p> +<p>Lady Scrope being in the secret of the surprise in store for the +Master Builder, was anxious to amuse herself by being witness to +his enlightenment; and it certainly seemed as though she had full +right thus to amuse herself, if it were her desire. Reuben had some +savings of his own; but the purchase of the house, had it been made +by him alone, would have seriously crippled his ability to carry +out his further plans of business. Thus it was really Lady Scrope's +golden guineas which had paved the way for the young people, and no +one could grudge her the enjoyment of seeing them arrive at their +new home.</p> +<p>The Master Builder had had some dealings of late with her +ladyship; for on hearing what he was employed to do for so many of +her friends, she summoned him to fumigate both of her houses when +she had got rid of all her temporary inmates; and she followed him +about, watching what he did, and amusing herself with making him +relate all the gossip he had picked up relative to her +acquaintances into whose houses he had been admitted: how many +amongst them had had the plague, how many had died, and all the +other details that her insatiable curiosity could glean from +him.</p> +<p>And now the bridal couple, together with the bride's father, +were being driven in state through the widest thoroughfares of the +city in the hired chariot of Lady Scrope, she chatting all the +while, and pointing out this thing and that as they went, openly +lamenting that so little remained to remind them of the plague, and +prophesying that London had not done with calamity yet.</p> +<p>Gertrude was amazed at the small change in the familiar streets +as they neared their home. True, she saw more strange faces than +she had been wont to do, and read new names and new signs upon the +gaily-painted boards hanging over the shop doors. Again and again +she missed from some accustomed doorway the familiar face of the +former owner, and saw that a stranger had taken the old business. +But then, again, others were there in their old places; friendly +faces beamed upon her as she looked out of the window. It was known +upon the bridge itself that she was to come back today; and though +the appearance of this fine coach caused a little thrill of +surprise, there was a fine buzz of welcome as Reuben put out his +head and stopped the postillion at the familiar door; for so many +fears had been entertained of Reuben's death, that there were those +who could not believe they should see him again in the flesh until +he stood before them.</p> +<p>"What means all this? Why stop ye here?" asked the Master +Builder, with a little agitation in his voice. "You have a home of +your own, you told me, Reuben, to which to take your wife. Why stop +you at your father's house? Let the postillion drive to your own +abode."</p> +<p>"This is our own abode, dear father," said Gertrude softly, +alighting from the coach and taking him by the hand to lead him +in.</p> +<p>Her other hand was held by her husband; and Lady Scrope was +forgotten for the moment by all, as the three passed the familiar +threshold amid a chorus of good wishes from friends and neighbours, +to which Reuben responded by a variety of signs, Gertrude being too +much moved to notice them.</p> +<p>"Dear father," she said, as they stood within the lower room, +which was being now fitted as of old for a shop, "forgive us if we +have kept our happy secret till now. We wanted to have the home +ready ere we brought you to it. This is our home. A wonderful thing +befell me. A dowry was bestowed upon me by a generous patroness, +from whom I looked not to receive a penny; that dowry bought the +house. Reuben's business will give us an ample livelihood. Thou +wilt remain always with us in the dear old house which thou hast +loved. Oh how happy we shall be--how wondrously happy!</p> +<p>"Father dear, it was Lady Scrope who gave me the wonderful gift +that has brought us all this. We must try to thank her ere we think +of ourselves more."</p> +<p>So speaking Gertrude turned, with her eyes full of happy tears, +towards Lady Scrope, who stood only a few paces off watching +everything with her accustomed intense scrutiny, and held out both +her hands in a sweet and simple gesture expressive of so much +feeling that the old dame felt an unwonted mist rising in her +eyes.</p> +<p>"Tut, tut, tut, child! I want no thanks. What good did the gold +do me, thinkest thou, shut away in yonder box? What think you I had +preserved it there for? Marry that I might fling it away at dice or +cards with those who came to visit me? It was my pleasure money, as +I chose to call it. And then came the plague and smote hip and +thigh amongst those who called me friend. And what good did the +gold do me or any person else? If it pleases me to throw it away on +a pair of fools, whose business is that but mine?</p> +<p>"There, there, there, that will do, all of you good people. I +want to see the house. I want none of your fool's talk. Going to +keep a shop here?--sensible man. I'll come and buy all my finery +when you start business, and sit and gossip at the counter the +while. So mind you have plenty of fine folks to gossip with me. If +I were young again, I vow I'd keep a shop myself."</p> +<p>And she made Reuben show samples of his goods, which were piled +up in readiness, albeit he was not quite ready to open shop; and +very excellent of their kind they were, as Lady Scrope was not slow +to remark.</p> +<p>"I'll send the whole city to you. I'll make you the fashion yet. +If I were a younger woman, and had my own old train of gallants +after me, I'd have made your fortune for you before the year was +out. But I'll do something yet, you shall see. And mind that you +never begin to lend money, young man, to any needy young fool who +may ask it of you. Those greedy court gallants would eat up all the +gold of the Indies, and be no whit the richer for it. No money +lending, young man, for in that way lies ruin, as too many have +found."</p> +<p>The Master Builder winced like one touched in a tender part, +whilst Reuben answered boldly:</p> +<p>"I have no such intentions. I hate usury, nor care I to earn +money for others to filch from me. I get my wealth by honest trade; +and if any man comes to me for aid, all the help I can give him is +to put him in the way of doing the like."</p> +<p>Lady Scrope nodded her head and laughed her shrill witch-like +laugh.</p> +<p>"He! he! he! Offer honest work to a needy gallant! May I be +there to hear when thou dost. Work, forsooth!--a turn at the +galleys would do most of them a power of good. Well, well, well, +young man, thou speakest sound sense. Thou shouldst prosper in thy +business.</p> +<p>"Now, girl, show me the rest of the house, for I must needs be +getting home ere long. I shall weary my old bones with all this +gadding to and fro."</p> +<p>Gertrude was willing enough to obey. The house was hardly +changed from the time she had left it, save that all which was +faded and worn had been replaced and furbished anew, and the whole +place made sweet and wholesome, and as clean and bright as hands +could make it. Gertrude would have preferred a plainer and simpler +abode, more like that of her neighbours; but she had not had the +heart to undo all her mother's dainty handiwork, and Reuben had +thought nothing too good for his bride.</p> +<p>Lady Scrope gibed and jeered a little, but not unkindly. She +knew all the family history by this time, and how that Gertrude was +not responsible for the luxuries with which her life would be +surrounded.</p> +<p>"Go to, child, go to; I am no judge over thee. What matters it a +few years earlier or later? It began in Shakespeare's time, as you +may read if you will, and it grows worse every generation. Soon the +shopmen and traders will be the fine gentlemen of the land, and we +may hope for the pickings and leavings of their tables. What does +it matter to me? I shall not be troubled by it. And if I be not +troubled thereby, what matter if all the world goes mad?</p> +<p>"Now fare you well, young folks; and thou, good Master Builder, +thank Heaven for a good and dutiful daughter, for they grow not on +every hedge in these graceless days.</p> +<p>"See me to my coach, young man, if thou canst leave devouring +thy wife with thine eyes for so much as a minute.</p> +<p>"Poor fools! poor fools! both of you.</p> +<p>"Give me a kiss, maiden--nay, mistress I must call thee now. Be +a good child, and be not too meek. Remember the fate of the hapless +Griselda."</p> +<p>Nodding her head and shaking her finger, Lady Scrope vanished +down the stairs upon Reuben's arm; and Gertrude, moved beyond her +powers of self restraint by all she had gone through, flung herself +into her father's arms, and the two mingled together their tears of +thankfulness and joy.</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. A FLAMING +CITY.</a></h2> +<p>Many happy months passed away, and the great city began to +forget the terrible calamity through which it had passed. There was +a little fear at first when the summer set in exceptionally hot and +dry--very much as it had done the preceding year; but the plague +seemed to have wreaked its full vengeance upon the inhabitants, and +there was no fresh outbreak, although isolated cases were reported, +as was usual, from time to time, and sometimes a slight passing +scare would upset the minds of men in a certain locality, to be +shortly laid at rest when no further ill followed.</p> +<p>The two houses on the bridge, standing sociably side by side, +were pleasant and flourishing places of business. Benjamin was now +apprenticed to his brother Reuben, his old master the carpenter +having fallen a victim to the plague. Dorcas remained with Lady +Scrope, who was now reckoned as a kind friend and patroness to the +Harmers, father and son. Rebecca fulfilled her old functions of the +useful daughter at home, though it was thought she would not long +remain there, as she was being openly courted by a young mercer in +Southwark, who had bought a business left without head through the +ravages of the plague, and was rapidly working it up to something +considerable and successful.</p> +<p>The Master Builder, too, was getting on, although still doing a +very small trade compared to what he had done before. Many of his +patrons were dead, others had been scared away altogether from +London for the present, and with so many vacant houses to fill +nobody cared to think of building. Still he found employment of a +kind, and was never idle, although things were very different from +what they had been, and he thought rather of paying his way in a +quiet fashion than of building up a great fortune. He lived in the +old house with his daughter and son-in-law, and was happier than in +the old days, when his wife had always been trying to make him ape +the ways of the gentry, and his son had been wearying his life out +with ceaseless importunities for money, which would only be wasted +in drunkenness and rioting.</p> +<p>Now the days passed happily and peacefully. Gertrude was a +loving wife and a loving daughter. Her father's comfort and welfare +were studied equally with that of her husband. She did her utmost +not to permit him ever to feel lonely or neglected, and she +considered his needs as his own fine-lady wife had never thought of +doing.</p> +<p>He had also his friends next door to visit, where he was always +welcome. There was now another door of communication opened between +the two houses, and almost every evening the Master Builder would +drop in for an hour to smoke a pipe with his friend and exchange +the news of the day, leaving the young married couple to +themselves, for a happy interchange of affection and +confidences.</p> +<p>The Harmer household remained unchanged, save for the death of +Dan and the marriage of Reuben; but the sailor had been so little +at home, that there was no great blank left by his absence, and +Reuben was too close at hand to be greatly missed. Janet had not +returned to service. Her mother had been rather horrified at the +manner in which the poor girl had been treated by her mistress when +the plague had appeared in the house. She did not care to send her +back to Lady Howe, and Janet had become so accomplished a nurse, +and took such interest in the life, that she begged to be allowed +to follow the calling of her aunt Dinah, and to spend her time +amongst the sick, wherever she might be needed. So both she and +Dinah Morse lived at the house on the bridge, but went about +amongst the sick in the neighbourhood, generally directed by Dr. +Hooker, but sometimes called specially to urgent cases by +neighbours or friends. Sometimes they returned home at night to +sleep, sometimes they remained for several days or weeks at a time +with their patients, according to their degree and the urgency of +the case. Janet found herself very well content in her new life, +and her mother liked it for her, since it brought her so much more +to her home.</p> +<p>It began to be noted that when Dinah Morse was at the house on +the occasions of the visits of the Master Builder, he addressed a +great part of his conversation to her, seemed never to weary +hearing her talk, and would sit looking reflectively at her when +other people were doing the talking. He had never forgotten how she +had come to them in their hour of dire need, when poor Frederick +had sickened of the fell disease which so soon carried him off. He +always declared that her tenderness to his wife and daughter at +that time had been beyond all price, and it seemed as though his +sense of obligation and gratitude did not lessen with time.</p> +<p>Sometimes James Harmer would say smilingly to his wife:</p> +<p>"Methinks our good neighbour hath a great fancy for Dinah. I +always do say that such a woman as she ought to be the wife of some +good honest man. They might do worse, both of them, than think of +marriage. What think you of Dinah? Tends her fancy that way at +all?"</p> +<p>And at that question Rachel would shake her head wisely and +respond:</p> +<p>"Dinah is not one to wear her heart upon her sleeve! A woman +hides her secret in her heart till the right time comes for giving +an answer. But we shall see! we shall see!"</p> +<p>In this manner the spring and summer passed happily and quickly +away.</p> +<p>August had come and gone, and now the first days of September +had arrived. The heat still continued very great, and a parching +east wind had been blowing for many weeks, which had dried up the +woodwork of the houses till it was like tinder. Sometimes the +Master Builder, coming home from his work of repairing or altering +some house either great or small, would say:</p> +<p>"I would we could get rain. This long drought is something +serious. I never knew the houses so dry and parched as they are +now. If a fire were to break out, it would be no small matter to +extinguish it. The water supply is very low, and the whole city is +like tinder."</p> +<p>It was Saturday night. The sun had gone down like a great ball +of fire, and Gertrude had observed to her husband how it had dyed +the river a peculiarly blood-red hue. One of those wandering +fortune tellers, who had paraded the city so often during the early +days of the plague (till the poor wretches were themselves carried +off in great numbers by it), had passed down the street once or +twice during the day, and had been always chanting a rude song like +a dirge, in which many woes were said to be hanging over London +town.</p> +<p>These prognostications had been frequent since the appearance in +the sky of another comet, which had been seen on all clear nights +of late. It had considerably alarmed the citizens, who remembered +the comet of the previous year, and the terrible visitation which +had followed. This one was not very like the former; it was far +more bright, and burning, and red, and its motion appeared more +rapid in the sky. The soothsayers and astrologers, of which there +were still plenty left, all averred that it bespoke some fresh +calamity hanging over the city, and for a while there was +considerable alarm in many minds, and some families actually left +London, fearful that the plague would again break out there; but by +this time the panic had well nigh died down. The comet ceased to be +seen in the sky, and even the mournful words of the fortune tellers +did not attract the notice they had done at first. The summer was +waning, and no sickness had appeared; and of any other kind of +calamity the people did not appear to dream.</p> +<p>The Master Builder had gone in as usual to the next house to +have a talk with his neighbour. But tonight he looked in vain for +Dinah.</p> +<p>"She and Janet have both been summoned to a fine lady who is +sick in a grand house nigh to St. Paul's. Dr. Hooker fetched them +thither this morning. They will be well paid for their work, he +says. The lady has sickened of a fever, and some of her household +took fright lest it should be the plague, albeit the symptoms are +quite different. So he must needs take both Dinah and Janet with +him, that she might be rightly served and tended. Tomorrow Joseph +shall go and ask news of her, and get speech with Janet if he can, +and learn how it fares with her. I confess I am glad, when she goes +to fine houses, that Dinah should be there also. Janet is a pretty +creature, and those young gallants think of nothing but to amuse +themselves by turning girls' heads, be they ever so humble.</p> +<p>"Ah me! ah me! there is a vast deal of wickedness in the world! +I cannot wonder that men foretell some fresh calamity upon this +city. I am sure some of the things we hear and see--well, well, +well, we must not judge others. It is enough that judgment and +vengeance are the Lord's."</p> +<p>Rachel stopped short because she saw the look of pain which +always came into the Master Builder's face when he thought of his +profligate young son, cut off in the prime of his youthful manhood, +and that without any assurance on the part of those about him that +he had repented of the error of his ways. The carelessness and +wickedness of the young men of the city were always a sore subject, +and he still winced when the pranks of the Scourers were commented +upon by his neighbours.</p> +<p>"It is my Lady Desborough who has fallen ill," concluded Rachel, +anxious to turn the subject. "Methinks you had some dealings with +her lord not such very long time since. The name fell familiarly +upon my ears."</p> +<p>"Yes, truly, I did much to garnish their house, and I built out +a private parlour for my lady, all of looking glass and gilding. +Not long since I purified the house for them with the costliest of +spices. Lord Desborough thinks all the world of his beauteous lady. +They are devoted to each other, which is a goodly thing to see in +these days. He will be greatly alarmed if she be seriously +indisposed. He is a right worthy gentleman; and with thy permission +I will accompany Joseph to St. Paul's tomorrow and learn the latest +tidings of her."</p> +<p>"With all my heart," answered the mother; and soon after that +the Master Builder took his departure, and both houses settled to +rest for the night.</p> +<p>It might have been two or three o'clock in the morning, none +could say exactly how time went on that memorable day, when the +Master Builder was awakened by sounds in the adjoining chamber, +where Reuben and his wife slept; and before he was fully awake, he +heard Gertrude's voice at his door crying out:</p> +<p>"O father, father! there is such a dreadful fire! Reuben is +going out to see where it is. Methinks it must be very nigh at +hand. Prithee go with him, and see that he comes to no hurt!"</p> +<p>The Master Builder was awake in an instant, and although it was +an hour at which the room should be dark, he found it quite +sufficiently light to dress without trouble, owing to the red glare +of fire somewhere in the neighbourhood.</p> +<p>"Pray Heaven it be not very near us!" was the cry of his heart +as he hurried into his clothes, remembering his own auguries of a +short time back respecting the spread of fire, if once it got a +hold upon a street or building.</p> +<p>He was dressed in a moment, and had joined Reuben as the latter +was feeling his way to the fastenings of the door. Two of the +shopmen, who slept below, were already aroused and wishful to join +them; and as they emerged into the street, which was quite light +with the palpitating glow of fire, the door of the Harmers' house +opened to admit the exit of the master of the house and his son +Joseph.</p> +<p>"Thou hast seen it also! I fear me it is very nigh at hand. I +had a good look from my topmost window, and methought it must +surely be in Long Lane or in Pudding Lane; certainly it is in one +of the narrow thoroughfares turning off northward from Thames +Street. It must have been burning for some while. It seems to have +taken firm hold. Belike the poor creatures there are all too +terrified to do aught to check the spread of the flames. We must +see what can be done. It will not do to let the flames get a hold. +This strong dry wind will spread them west and north with terrible +speed, if something be not done to check them!"</p> +<p>James Harmer spoke with the air of a man who is used to offices +of authority. He had exercised one so long during the crisis of the +plague, that the habit of thinking for his fellow citizens still +clung to him. It appeared to him to be his bounden duty to do what +he could to save life and property; and all the time he spoke he +was hastening along the bridge in the direction of the smoke clouds +and flames.</p> +<p>The Master Builder hurried along at his side, and before they +had reached the end of the bridge there were quite a dozen of the +householders or their servants joining the procession to the scene +of the conflagration. Until they reached the corner of Thames +Street they saw nothing beyond the red column of flame and the +showers of sparks mingling with clouds of smoke; but when once they +reached the corner, a terrible sight was revealed to them, for the +whole block of buildings between Pudding Lane and New Fish Street +was a mass of flames, and the fire seemed to be like a living +thing, driven onwards before some mighty compelling power.</p> +<p>"God preserve us all! it will be upon us in an hour if nothing +be done to check it," cried Harmer in sudden dismay.</p> +<p>"What is being done? What are the people doing?" cried a score +of voices.</p> +<p>But what indeed could the terrified people do, wakened out of +their sleep in the dead of night to find their houses burning about +their ears? They were running helter skelter this way and that, not +knowing which way to turn, like so many frightened sheep. Not that +they thought as yet that this fire was going to be so very +different from other bad fires which some of them had seen; for +their wooden and plaster houses burned down too readily at all +times, and were built up easily enough afterwards. A little farther +off the people were trying to get their goods out of the houses, +that they might not lose all if the fire came their way. But those +actually burned out seemed to do nothing but stand helplessly by +looking on; and perhaps it was only the Master Builder himself who +at this moment realized that there was a very serious peril +threatening the whole quarter of the city where the fire had broken +out, and had already taken such hold.</p> +<p>The wind being slightly north as well as east in its direction, +it seemed reasonable to hope that the conflagration would not cross +Thames Street in a southerly direction, in which case the bridge +would be safe; and, indeed, as New Fish Street was a fairly wide +thoroughfare, it was rather confidently hoped that this might prove +a check to the fire. The Master Builder ran up the street crying +out to the terrified inhabitants to get all the water they could +and fling it upon the roofs and walls of their dwellings, to strive +to keep the flames at bay; but there was scarcely one to listen or +try to obey. The people were all hurrying out of their houses, +bringing their families and their goods and chattels with them. The +street was so blocked by hand carts and jostling crowds, that it +was hopeless to attempt any plan of organization here.</p> +<p>Then all too soon a cry went up that the fire had leaped the +street and had ignited a house on the west side. A groan and a +scream of terror went up as it was seen that this was all too true, +and already great waves of flame seemed to be rushing onwards as if +driven from the mouth of some vast blasting furnace; and the Master +Builder returned to his friends with a very grave face.</p> +<p>"Heaven send the whole city be not destroyed!" he exclaimed; +"never have I seen fire like unto this fire!</p> +<p>"Reuben, lad, make thy way with all speed to the Lord Mayor, and +tell him of the peril in which we stand. He is the man to find +means to check this fearful conflagration. Would to Heaven it were +good Sir John Lawrence who were Mayor, as he was in the days of the +plague! He was a man of spirit, and courage, and resource. But I +much fear me that poor Bludworth has little of any of these +qualities. Nevertheless go to him, Reuben. Tell him what thou hast +seen, and tell him that if he wishes not to see London burned about +his ears it behoves him to do something!"</p> +<p>Reuben dashed off along Thames Street westward to do his errand, +and then the Master Builder turned gravely to his friend and +said:</p> +<p>"Harmer, I like not the aspect of things. I fear me that even we +are likely to stand in dire peril ere long. Yet we shall have time +to take steps for our salvation, seeing the wind is our friend so +far, though Heaven alone knows when that may change, and drive the +flames straight down upon us. Yet, methinks, we shall have time for +what must be done. Wilt thou work hand in hand with me for the +salvation of our goods and houses, even though it may mean present +loss?"</p> +<p>"I will do whatever is right and prudent," answered Harmer, +hurrying hack towards the bridge with his friend and with those who +had followed them, and in a short while they were surrounded by a +number of frightened neighbours, all asking what awful thing was +happening, and what could be done to save themselves.</p> +<p>The Master Builder was naturally the man looked to, and he gave +answer quietly and firmly. If the fire once leaped Thames Street, +and attacked the south side, nothing short of a miracle could save +the bridge houses, unless some drastic step were taken; and the +only method which he could devise in the emergency, was that some +of the houses at the northern end should be demolished by means of +gunpowder, and the ruins soaked in water, so that the passage of +the flames might be stayed there.</p> +<p>But at this suggestion the faces of those who lived in these +same houses grew long and grave, as indeed the speaker had +anticipated. The owners were not prepared for so great a sacrifice. +They argued that with the wind where it was, the fire might in all +probability not extend southward at all, in which case their loss +would he useless. They talked and argued the matter out for about +twenty anxious minutes, and in fine flatly refused to have their +houses touched, preferring to take their chance of escaping the +fire to this wholesale demolition.</p> +<p>This was no more than the Master Builder had foreseen, and +without attempting further argument he turned to his neighbour and +said:</p> +<p>"Then it must be your workshops and storerooms that must go. You +can better spare them than the house itself; and on the opposite +side there is the empty house where poor David Norris lived and +died. There is none living there now to hinder us. We must take the +law into our own hands and make the gap there. If the fire comes +not this way, I will bear the blame with the Mayor, if we be called +to account; but methinks a little promptitude now may save half the +bridge, and perchance all the southern part of London +likewise!"</p> +<p>"Do as you will, good friend, your knowledge is greater than +mine," answered James Harmer with cheerful alacrity; "Heaven forbid +that I should value my goods beyond the life and property and +salvation of the many in this time of threatened peril."</p> +<p>"We shall save the goods first. It is only the sheds and +workshops that must go," answered the Master Builder cheerily, and +forthwith he and his men, who had come hurrying up, together with +all the men and boys in the double Harmer household, commenced +carrying within shop and houses all the valuables stored in the +smaller buildings hard by. It was a work quickly accomplished, and +whilst it was being carried out, the Master Builder himself was +carefully making preparations for the demolition of the empty house +opposite, which indeed was already in some danger of falling into +decay, and was empty and desolate.</p> +<p>It had been the abode of the unfortunate man who brought his +family back too soon to the city, and lost them all of the plague +within a short time. He himself had lingered on for some months, +and had then died of a broken heart. But nobody had cared to live +in the house since. It was averred that it was haunted by the +restless spirit of the poor man, and strange noises were said to +issue from it at night. Others declared that the ghost of the wife +was seen flitting past the windows, and that she always carried a +sick moaning child in her arms. So ill a name had the house got by +reason of these many stories that none would take it, and there was +therefore none to interfere when, with a loud report and showers of +dust and sparks, the whole place and the workshop at the side were +blown up at the command of the Master Builder, and reduced to a +pile of ruins.</p> +<p>In spite of all the excitement and fear caused by the spreading +fire, the neighbours looked upon the Master Builder as an +enthusiast and a madman, and upon James Harmer as a poor dupe, to +allow such destruction of property. No sooner were both sets of +buildings destroyed than men were set to work with buckets and +chains to drench the dusty heaps of the ruins with water, nor would +the Master Builder permit the workers to slacken their efforts +until the whole mass of demolished ruin was reduced to the +condition of a soppy pulp.</p> +<p>By this time the day had broken; but the sun was partially +obscured by the thick pall of smoke which hung in the air, whilst +the ceaseless roar of the flames was becoming terrible in its +monotony. Backwards and forwards ran excited men and boys, always +bringing fresh reports as to the alarming spread of the fire. Even +upon the bridge the heat could plainly be felt. The workers who +were called within doors to be refreshed by food and drink were +almost too anxious to eat. Never had such a fire been seen +before.</p> +<p>Whilst the Master Builder and his friend were snatching a hasty +meal, Reuben came hurrying back with a smoke-blackened face. He too +showed signs of grave anxiety.</p> +<p>"Well, lad, hast thou seen the Lord Mayor?" was the eager +question.</p> +<p>"Ay, verily, I have seen him," answered Reuben, with a bent +brow, and a look of severity on his young face, "but I might as +well have spoken to Fido there for all the good I did."</p> +<p>"Why, how so?" asked his father quickly and sternly; "is the man +lost to all sense of his duties? Where was he? what said he? Come +sit thee down, lad, and eat thy fill, and tell us all the +tale."</p> +<p>Reuben was hungry enough, and his wife hung over him supplying +his needs; but he was thinking more of the perils of his fellow +citizens, and of the supine conduct of the Mayor, than of anything +else.</p> +<p>"I found the worshipful fellow in bed," he answered. "Other +messengers had arrived with the news, but his servant had not +ventured to disturb him. I, however, would not be denied. I went up +to him in his bed chamber, and I told him what I had seen, and +warned him that there was need for prompt action. But he only +answered with an oath and a ribald jest, which I will not repeat in +the hearing of my wife or mother; and he would have turned again to +his slumbers, had I not well nigh forced him to get up, and had not +some of the aldermen arrived at that minute to speak of the matter, +and inquire into its magnitude. They be all of them disposed to say +that it will burn itself out fast enough like other fires; but I +trow some amongst them are aroused to a fear that it may spread far +in this dry wind, and with the houses so parched and cracked with +heat. Then I came away, having done mine errand, and went back to +the fire. It had spread all too fast even in that short time, and +the worst thing is that no means seem to be taken to stop it. The +people run about like those distraught, crying that a second +judgment has come, that it is God's doing, and that man cannot +fight against it. They are all seeking to convey away their goods +to some safe place; but the fire travels quicker than they, and +they are forced to leave their chattels and flee for their lives. I +trow such a sight has never been seen before."</p> +<p>"It must be like the burning of Rome in the days of the wicked +emperor Nero," said Gertrude in a low, awed voice. "Pray Heaven +they extinguish the flames soon! It would be fearful indeed were +they to last till nightfall."</p> +<p>At this moment Rachel Harmer came hurrying into the room with a +pale scared face.</p> +<p>"The child Dorcas!" she cried. "Why have we not thought of her? +Is she safe? Where has the fire reached to? God forgive me! I must +surely be off my head! Husband, go for the child; she must be +scared to death, even if naught worse has befallen her!"</p> +<p>"I had not forgot the maid," answered the father; "but it is +well she should be looked to now. The fire has not crossed Thames +Street. Lady Scrope's house is safe yet a while; but unless things +quickly improve, both she and the child should come hither.</p> +<p>"Make ready the best guest chamber in thy house, Gertrude, and +thy husband and I will go and bring her hither.</p> +<p>"Come, lad, as thy mother saith, the child may be scared at the +heat and the flames. And my lady has many valuables to be rescued, +too. It would be shame that they should perish in the flames if +these leap the street. We will take the boat and moor it at Cold +Harbour, and slip up by the side street out of the way of the smoke +and the heat. We can thus bring her and her goods with most safety +here. Marry that is well bethought! We will lose not an hour. One +cannot tell at what moment the fire may change its direction."</p> +<p>Reuben rose at once, and accompanied by two of the steadiest of +the shopmen, they prepared to carry out their plan of seeking to +rescue Lady Scrope and her valuables.</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. SCENES +OF TERROR.</a></h2> +<p>"Father! sweet father! thank Heaven thou art come! Methought we +should be burned alive in this terrible house. Methought perchance +all of you had been burned. O father! tell me, what is befalling? +It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed +with fervent heat!"</p> +<p>Dorcas, with a white face and panting breath, stood clinging to +her father's arm, as though she would never let it go. He soothed +her tenderly, striving to pacify her terrors, but it was plain that +she had been through some hours of terrible fear.</p> +<p>"My little bird, didst thou think we should leave thee to perish +here?" asked the father, half playfully, half reproachfully; "and +if so affrighted, why didst thou not fly home to thy nest? That, at +least, would have been easy."</p> +<p>"Ah, but I could not leave my lady when all besides had +fled--even the two old creatures who were never afraid of remaining +when the distemper was raging all around. She stands at the window +watching the flames devouring all else opposite, and it is hot +enough there well nigh to singe the hair on her head; but she +laughs and chuckles the while, and says the most horrible things. I +cannot bear to go anigh her; and yet I cannot leave her alone.</p> +<p>"O father, father! come and get her away. She seems like one +made without the power of fear. The more that others are +affrighted, the more she seems to rejoice!"</p> +<p>Dorcas and her father and brother were in the narrow entry upon +which the back door of the house opened. This alley led right down +to the river, where the boat was moored under the charge of the two +shopmen. It would be easy to carry down any valuables and load it +up, and then transport the intrepid old woman, when she had looked +her fill, and when she saw her own safety threatened.</p> +<p>For it began to be evident that the flames would quickly +overleap the gap presented by Thames Street. They were gathering so +fearfully in power that great flakes of fire detached themselves +from the burning buildings and leaped upon other places to right +and left, as though endowed with the power of volition.</p> +<p>The fire was even spreading eastward in spite of the strong east +wind--not, of course, with anything like the rapidity with which it +made its way westward, but in a fashion which plainly showed how +firm a hold it had upon the doomed houses.</p> +<p>There was no time to lose if Lady Scrope and her valuables were +to be saved. The house seemed full of smoke as they entered it; and +Dorcas led them up the stairs into the parlour, at the window of +which her mistress was standing, leaning upon her stick, and +uttering a succession of short, sharp exclamations, intermingled +with the cackling laugh of old age.</p> +<p>"Ha! that is a good one! Some roof fell in then! See the sparks +rushing up like waters from a fountain! I would not have missed +that! Pity it is daylight; 'twould have been twice as fine at +night! Good! good! good! yes run, my man, run, or the flames will +catch you. Ha! they gave him a lick, and he has dropped his bundle +and fled for his very life. Ha! ha! ha! it is as good as the best +play I ever saw in my life! Here comes another. Oh, he has so laden +himself that he can scarcely run. There! he is down; he struggles +to rise, but his pack holds him to the ground. O my good fool! you +will find that your goods cost you dear today. You should have read +your Bible to better purpose. Ah! there is some good-natured fool +helping him up and along. It is more than he deserves. I should +have liked to see what he did when the next wave of fire ran up the +street.</p> +<p>"Dorcas, child, where art thou? Thou art losing the finest sight +of thy life! If thou hast courage to stay with me, why hast thou +not courage to enjoy such a sight as thou wilt not see twice in a +lifetime?"</p> +<p>"Madam! madam!" cried the girl running forward, "here are my +father and brother, come to help to save your goods and escape by +the back. They have brought the boat to Cold Harbour, where it is +moored; and, if it please you, they will conduct you to it, and +come back and fetch such goods as you would most wish saved."</p> +<p>But the old woman did not even turn her head. She was eagerly +scanning the street without, along which sheets of flame seemed to +be driven.</p> +<p>"Great powers, what a noise! Methinks some church tower has +collapsed. St. Lawrence, Poultney, belike. St. Mary's, Bush Lane, +will be the next. Would I were there to see. I will to the roof of +the house to obtain a better view. Zounds, but this is worth a +hundred plagues! I had never thought to live to see London burned +about my ears. What a noise the fire makes! It is like the rushing +of a mighty flood. Oh, a flood of fire is a fine thing!"</p> +<p>The weird old woman looked like a spirit of the devouring +element, as she stood at her window talking aloud in her strange +excitement and enjoyment of the awful destruction about her. The +heat within the room was becoming intolerable, yet she did not +appear to feel it. The house being well built, with thick walls and +well-fitting windows, resisted the entrance of the great volumes of +smoke that roiled along laden with sparks and burning fragments of +wood; but these fiery heralds were becoming so menacing and +continuous, that the Harmers saw plainly how little time was to be +lost if they would save either the old woman or her valuables.</p> +<p>"Madam," said James Harmer approaching, and forcing his presence +upon the notice of the mistress of the house, "there is little time +to lose if you would save yourself or your goods. We have come to +give such assistance as lies in our power. Will you give me your +authority to bear away hence all such things as may be most readily +transported and are of most value? When we have saved these, belike +you will have looked your fill on the fire. And, at least, you can +see it as well from any other place in the neighbourhood without +this risk. May we commence our task of rescue?"</p> +<p>"Oh yes, my good fellow, take what you will. Dorcas will show +you what is of greatest value. Lade yourselves with spoil, and make +yourselves rich for life. I drove forth the hired varlets who would +fain have robbed me ere they left; but take what you will, and my +blessing with it. Your daughter deserves a dowry at my hands. Take +all you can lay hands upon; I shall want it no more. Ha! I must to +the roof! I must to the roof! Why, if it only lasts till nightfall, +what a sight it will be! Right glad am I that I have lived to see +this day."</p> +<p>Without particularly heeding the words of the strange old woman, +father and son, directed by Dorcas, set about rapidly to collect +and transport to the boat the large quantities of silver plate and +other valuables which, during her long life, Lady Scrope had +collected about her. The rich furniture had, perforce, to be left +behind, save a small piece here and there of exceptional value; but +there were jewels, and golden trinkets, and strangely-carved +ivories set with gems, and all manner of costly trophies from the +distant lands whither vessels now went and returned laden with all +manner of wonders. The Harmers were amazed at the vast amount of +treasure hoarded up in that small house, and wondered that Lady +Scrope had not many times had her life attempted by the servants, +who must have known something of the contents of cabinet and +chest.</p> +<p>But her reputation as a witch had been a great safeguard, and +her own intrepid spirit had done even more to hold robbers at bay. +All who knew her were fully aware that she was quite capable of +shooting down any person found in the act of robbing her, and that +she always kept loaded pistols in her room in readiness. There was +a story whispered about, of her having locked up in one of her +rooms a servant whom she had caught pilfering, and it was said that +she had starved him to death amid the plunder he had gathered, and +had afterwards had his body flung without burial into the river. +Whether there was more than rumour in such a gruesome tale none +could now say, but it had long become an acknowledged axiom that +Lady Scrope's goods had better be let alone.</p> +<p>Twice had the boat been laden and returned, for all concerned +worked with a will, and now all had been removed from the house +which it was possible to take on such short notice and in such a +fashion. The fire was surging furiously across the road, and in +more than one place it had leaped the street, and the other side, +the south side, was now burning as fiercely as the northern. Dorcas +had been dispatched to call down Lady Scrope, for her father +reckoned that in ten minutes more the house would be actually +engulfed in the oncoming mass of flames. And now the girl hurried +up to them, her face blanched with terror.</p> +<p>"She will not come, father; she will not come. She laughs to +scorn all that I say. She stands upon the parapet of the roof, +tossing her arms, and crying aloud as she sees building after +building catch fire, and the great billows of flame rolling along. +Oh, it is terrible to see and to hear her! Methinks she has gone +distraught. Prithee, go fetch her down by force, dear father, for I +trow that naught else will suffice."</p> +<p>Father and son looked at each other in consternation. They had +not seriously contemplated the possibility of finding the old woman +obstinate to the last. But yet, now that Dorcas spoke, it seemed to +them quite in keeping with what they had heard of her, that she +should decline to leave even in the face of dire peril.</p> +<p>"Run to the boat, child!" cried the father. "Let us know that +thou art safe on board, and leave thy mistress to us. If she come +not peaceably, we must needs carry her down.</p> +<p>"Come, Reuben, we must not tarry within these walls more than +five minutes longer. The fire is approaching on all sides. I fear +me, both the Allhallowes will be victims next."</p> +<p>Springing up the staircase, now thick with smoke, father and son +emerged at last upon a little leaden platform, and saw at a short +distance from them the old woman whom they sought, tossing her arms +wildly up and down, and bursting into awful laughter when anything +more terrible than usual made itself apparent.</p> +<p>They could not get quite up to her without actually crawling +along an unguarded ridge of masonry, as she must have done to +attain her present position; but they approached as near as was +possible, and called to her urgently:</p> +<p>"Madam, we have saved your goods as far as it was possible; now +we come to save you. Lose not a moment in escaping from the house. +In a few more minutes escape will be impossible."</p> +<p>She turned and faced them then, dropping her mocking and excited +manner, and speaking quite calmly and quietly.</p> +<p>"Good fellow, who told you that I should leave my house? I have +no intention whatever of doing any such thing. What should I do in +a strange place with strange surroundings? Here I have lived, and +here I will die. You are an honest man, and you have an honest +wench for your daughter. Keep all you have saved, and give her a +marriage portion when she is fool enough to marry. As for me, I +shall want it no more."</p> +<p>"But, madam, it is idle speaking thus!" cried Reuben, with the +impetuosity of youth. "You must leave your house on the +instant--"</p> +<p>"So they told me in the time of the plague," returned Lady +Scrope, with a little, disdainful smile; "but I told them I should +never die in my bed."</p> +<p>"Madam, we cannot leave you here to perish in the flames," cried +the youth, with some heat and excitement of manner. "I would that +you would come quietly with us, but if not I must needs--" and here +he began to suit the action to the words, and to make as though he +would creep along the ledge and gain the old woman's vantage +ground, as, indeed, was his intention.</p> +<p>But he had hardly commenced this perilous transit before he felt +himself pulled back by his father, who said, in a strange, muffled +voice:</p> +<p>"It is useless, Reuben; we can do nothing. We must leave her to +her fate. Either she is truly a witch, as men say, or else her +brain is turned by the fearsome sight."</p> +<p>And Reuben, following his father's glance, saw that the +redoubtable Lady Scrope had drawn forth a pistol from pocket or +girdle, and was pointing it full at him, with a light in her eyes +which plainly betokened her intention of using it if he dared to +thwart her beyond a certain point.</p> +<p>When she saw the action of James Harmer, she smiled a sardonic +smile.</p> +<p>"Farewell, gentlemen," she said, with a wave of her hand. "I +thank you for your good offices, and for your kindly thought for +me. But no man has ever yet moved me from my purpose, and no man +has laid hands on me against my will--nor ever shall. Go! farewell! +Save yourselves, and take my blessing and good wishes with you; but +I move not an inch from where I stand. I defy the fire, as I defied +the plague!"</p> +<p>It was useless to remain. Words were thrown away, and to attempt +force would but bring certain death upon whoever attempted it. The +fire was already almost upon them. Father and son, after one +despairing look at each other, darted down the stairs again, and +had but just time to make their escape ere a great wave of flame +came rolling along overhead, and the house itself was wrapped in +the fiery mantle.</p> +<p>Dorcas, waiting with the men in the boat, devoured them with her +eyes as they appeared, and uttered a little cry of horror and +amazement when she saw them appear, choked and blackened, but +alone.</p> +<p>"She would not come! she would not come! Oh, I feared it from +the first; but it seemed so impossible! Oh, how could she stay +there alone in that sea of fire! O my mistress! my mistress! my +poor mistress! She was always kind to me."</p> +<p>Neither father nor brother spoke as they got into the boat and +pushed off into the glowing river. It was terrible to think of that +intrepid old woman facing her self-chosen and fiery doom alone up +there upon the roof of that blazing house.</p> +<p>"She must have been mad!" sobbed Dorcas; and her father answered +with grave solemnity:</p> +<p>"Methinks that self-will, never checked, never guided, breeds in +the mind a sort of madness. Let us not judge her. God is the Judge. +By this time, methinks, she will have passed from time to +eternity."</p> +<p>Dorcas shuddered and hid her face. She could not grasp the +thought that her redoubtable mistress was no more; but the weird +sight of the fire, as seen from the river, drew her thoughts even +from the contemplation of the tragedy just enacted. The great pall +of smoke seemed extending to a fearful distance, and the girl +turned with a sudden terror to her father.</p> +<p>"Father, will our house be burned?"</p> +<p>"I trust not, my child, I trust not. It is of great moment that +the bridge should be saved, not for its own sake only, but to keep +the flames from spreading southward, as they might if they crossed +that frail passage. We have done what we could; and we cannot be +surrounded as are other houses. The fire can advance but by one +road upon us. I trust the action we have taken will suffice to save +us and others. I would fain be at home to see how matters are going +there. I fear me that the pillar of fire over yonder is the blazing +tower of St. Magnus. If so, the fire is fearfully near the head of +the bridge. God help the poor families who would not consent to the +demolition of their houses for the common weal! I fear me now they +are in danger of losing both houses and goods!"</p> +<p>It was even so, as the Harmers found on reaching their own +abode, which they did by putting across the river to the Southwark +side, to avoid the peril from the burning fragments which were +flying all about the north bank of the river.</p> +<p>The flames, having once leaped Thames Street, were devouring the +houses on the southern side of the street with an astonishing +rapidity; and the river was crowded with wherries, to which the +affrighted people brought such goods as they could hastily lay +hands upon in the terror and confusion. St. Magnus was now burning +furiously, and great flakes of fire were falling pitilessly upon +the houses at the northern end of the bridge. Even as the Harmers +came hurrying up, a shout of fear told them that one of these had +ignited, and the next minute there was no mistaking it. The houses +on both sides of the northern end of the bridge were in flames; and +the people who had somehow trusted that the bridge would, on +account of its more isolated position, escape, were rushing +terrified out of their doors, or were flinging their goods out of +the windows with a recklessness that caused many of them to be +broken to fragments as they reached the ground, whilst others were +seized and carried off by the thieves and vagabonds who came +swarming out of the dens of the low-lying parts of the city, eager +to turn the public calamity into an occasion of private gain, and +lost no opportunity of appropriating in the general confusion +anything upon which they could lay their hands.</p> +<p>"Pray Heaven the means we have taken may be blessed to the +city!" cried James Harmer, as he hurried along.</p> +<p>He found his men hard at work pumping water and drenching the +ruins with it; for, as they said, the great heat dried up the +moisture with inconceivable rapidity, and if once these ruins +fired, nothing short of a miracle could save the remainder of the +houses. Other stout fellows were upon the roofs with their buckets, +emptying them as fast as they were filled upon the roofs and walls, +so that when burning fragments and showers of sparks or even a +leaping billow of flame smote upon them, it hissed like a live +thing repulsed, and died away in smoke and blackness.</p> +<p>It was the same when the flames reached the gap which had been +made in the buildings by the Master Builder. The angry fire leapt +again and again upon the drenched ruins, but each time fell back +hissing and throwing off clouds of steam.</p> +<p>For above two long hours that seemed like days the hand-to-hand +fight continued, resolute and determined men casting water +ceaselessly upon the ruins and the roofs and walls of the adjoining +houses, the fire on the other side of the gap blazing furiously, +and seeking to overstep it whenever a puff of wind gave it the +right impetus. Had the wind shifted a point to the south, possibly +nothing could have saved the bridge; but the general direction was +northeast, and it was only an occasional eddy that brought a rush +of flames to the southward. But there was great peril from the +intense heat generated by the huge body of burning buildings close +at hand, and from the flying splinters and clouds of sparks.</p> +<p>Fearlessly and courageously as the workers toiled on, there were +moments when their hearts almost failed them, when it seemed as +though nothing could stop the oncoming tyrant, which appeared more +like a living monster than a mere inanimate agency. But as the +daylight waned, it began to be evident that victory would be with +the devoted workers. Although the ever-increasing light in the sky +told them that in other directions the fire was spreading with +tireless fury, in the neighbourhood of the bridge and the places +where it had broken out it had almost wreaked its fury.</p> +<p>It had burned houses, and shops, and churches to the very +ground. The lambent flames still played about the heaps of burning +ruins, but the fury of the conflagration had abated through lack of +material upon which to feed itself. Victory remained finally with +those who had worked so well to keep the foe in check, and keep in +safety the southern portion of the city. The Master Builder's +scheme had been attended with marked success. The demolished +buildings had arrested the progress of the flames, although not +without severe labour on the part of those concerned.</p> +<p>When the Harmer family met together to eat and drink after the +toils of the day, so wearied out that even the knowledge that the +terrible fire was still devouring all before it in other quarters +could not keep them from their beds that night, the master of the +house said to his friend the Master Builder:</p> +<p>"Truly, if other means fail, we had better set about blowing up +whole streets of houses in the path of the flames. We will to the +Lord Mayor at daybreak, and tell him how the bridge has been saved. +The people may lament at the destruction of their houses, but sure +that is better than that all the city should be ravaged by +fire!"</p> +<p>Busy indeed were the women of both those abodes upon that +memorable night. From basement to attic their houses were crowded +with neighbours who had been burned out, and who must either pass +the night in the open air or else seek shelter from friends more +fortunate than themselves.</p> +<p>The men, for the most part, were abroad in the streets, drawn +thither by the excitement of the great fire, and by the hope of +helping to save other persons and goods. But the women and children +crowded together in helpless dismay, watching from the windows the +increasing glow in the sky as the sun sank and night came on, and +mingling tears of terror for others with their own lamentations +over the loss of houses and goods.</p> +<p>Good Rachel Harmer and her daughters and daughter-in-law moved +amongst the poor creatures like ministering angels. The children +were fed and put to bed by twos and threes together. The mothers +were bidden to table in relays, and everything was done to cheer +and sustain them. Good James Harmer thought not of his own goods +when his neighbours were in dire need, and neither he nor his son +grudged the hospitality which was willingly accorded to all who +asked it, even though the houses would not stretch themselves out +for the accommodation of more than a certain number.</p> +<p>But as in times of trouble men draw very near together, so the +misfortune of the citizens of London opened the hearts of their +neighbours of Southwark and the surrounding villages, who +themselves were now safe and in no danger from the great fire. +Hospitable countrymen came with wagons and took away homeless +creatures with their few poor goods, to be entertained for a while +by their own wives and daughters. Others who had to encamp in the +open fields were supplied with food by the surrounding inhabitants; +and although there were much sorrow of heart and distress, the +kindness shown to the burned out families did much to assuage their +woes.</p> +<p>James Harmer, who had done much to see to the safe housing of +multitudes of women and children, came home at last, and gathering +his household about him, gave thanks for their timely preservation +in another great peril; and then he dismissed them to their beds, +bidding them sleep, for that none knew what the morrow might bring +forth. And they went to such couches as they could find for +themselves, ready to do his behest; and though London was in +flames, and the house almost as light as day, there were few that +did not sleep soundly on the night which followed that strange +eventful Sunday.</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. WHAT +BEFELL DINAH.</a></h2> +<p>Dinah Morse and her niece Janet were faring sumptuously in Lord +Desborough's house, hard by St. Paul's Churchyard. His young wife +lay sick of a grievous fever, and he was well nigh distracted by +the fear of losing her.</p> +<p>Nothing was too good for her, or for the gentle-faced, +soft-voiced nurses who had come to tend her in her hour of need. +The best of everything was at their disposal; and it was no great +source of regret to them that several of the hired servants had +fled before their arrival, a whisper having gone through the house +that her ladyship had taken the plague.</p> +<p>Dinah and Janet had seen too much of the plague to be deceived +by a few trifling similarities in some of the symptoms. They were +able to assure the distracted husband that it was not the dreaded +distemper, and then they settled to the task of nursing like those +habituated to it; and so different were they in their ways from the +women he had seen before in the office of sick nurse, many of whom +were creatures of no good reputation, and of evil habits and life, +that his mind was almost relieved of its fears and anxiety, and he +began to entertain joyful hopes of the recovery of his spouse.</p> +<p>Upon the Sunday morning which had passed so strangely and +eventfully for those in the east of the city, there was nothing to +disturb the tranquillity of patient or of nurses. It had been a hot +night, and Janet, when she relieved Dinah towards morning, said she +had seen a red light in the sky towards the east, and feared there +had been a bad fire. But neither of them thought much of this; and +when the bell of St. Paul's rang for morning service, Dinah bade +Janet put on her hood and go, for Lady Desborough was sleeping +quietly, and would only need quiet watching for the next few +hours.</p> +<p>When Janet entered the great building she was aware that a +certain excitement and commotion seemed to prevail in some of the +groups gathered together in Paul's Walk, as the long nave of the +old building was called. Paul's Walk was a place of no very good +repute, and any modest girl was wont to hurry through it with her +hood drawn and her eyes bent upon the ground. Disgraceful as such +desecration must be accounted, there can be no doubt that Paul's +walk was a regular lounge for the dissipated and licentious young +gallants of the day, a place where barter and traffic were +shamelessly carried on, and where all sorts of evil practices +prevailed.</p> +<p>The sacredness of a building solemnly consecrated to God by +their pious forefathers seemed to mean nothing to the reckless +roisterers of that shameless age. The Puritans during the late +civil war had set the example of desecrating churches, by using +them as stables and hospitals, and for other secular purposes. It +was a natural outcome of such practices that the succeeding +generation should go a step further and do infinitely worse. If +God-fearing men did not scruple to desecrate consecrated churches, +was it likely that their godless successors would have greater +misgivings?</p> +<p>Janet therefore hurried along without seeking to know what men +were talking of, and during the time that the service went on she +almost forgot the impression she had taken in on her first +entrance.</p> +<p>As she came out she joined the old door porter of Lord +Desborough's house, and was glad to walk with him through the +crowded nave and into the bright, sunny air without.</p> +<p>Although the sun was shining, she was aware of a certain +murkiness in the air, but did not specially heed it until some +loudly-spoken words fell upon her ears.</p> +<p>"But forty hours, and this whole city shall be consumed by +fire!" shouted a strange-looking man, who, in very scanty attire, +was stationed upon the top of the steps, and was declaiming and +gesticulating as he addressed a rather frightened-looking crowd +beneath him. "Within forty hours there shall not be left standing +one stone upon another in all this mighty edifice. The hand of the +Lord is stretched forth against this evil city, and judgment shall +begin at His sanctuary. Beware, and bewail, and repent in dust and +ashes, for the Lord will do a thing this day which will cause the +ears of every one who hears it to tingle. He is coming! He is +coming! He is coming in clouds and majesty in a flaming fire, even +as He appeared on the mount of Sinai! Be ready to meet Him. He +comes to smite and not to spare! His chariots of fire are over us +already. They travel apace upon the wings of the wind. I see them! +I hear them! They come! they come! they come!"</p> +<p>The fanatic waved his hands in the air with frantic gestures, +and pointed eastward. Certainly there did appear to be a strange +murkiness and haze in the air; and was there not a smell as of +burning? or was it but the idea suggested by the man's words? Janet +trembled as she slipped her arm within that of the old porter.</p> +<p>"What does he mean?" she asked nervously. "The people seem very +attentive to hear. They look affrighted, and some of them seem to +tremble. What does it all mean?"</p> +<p>"I scarce know myself. I heard men speak of a terrible fire +right away in the east that has been burning many hours now. But +sure they cannot fear that it will come nigh to St. Paul's. That +were madness indeed! Why, each dry summer, as it comes, brings us +plenty of bad fires. The fellow is but one of those mad fools who +love to scare honest folks out of their senses. Heed him not, +mistress. Belike he knows no more than thou and I. It is his trade +to set men trembling. Let us go home; there is no danger for +us."</p> +<p>Rather consoled by these words, and certainly without any real +apprehensions for their personal safety, Janet returned to the +house, where she and Dinah passed a quiet day. Neither of them went +out again; and though they spoke sometimes of the fire, and +wondered if it had been extinguished, they did not suffer any real +anxiety of mind.</p> +<p>"I trust it went not nigh to our homes," said Janet once or +twice. "I would that one of the boys might come and give us news of +them. But if folks are in trouble over yonder, father is certain to +have his hands full. He will never stand by idle whilst other folks +are suffering danger and loss."</p> +<p>"He is a good man," answered Dinah, and with her these words +stood for much.</p> +<p>Towards nightfall Lord Desborough came in with rather an anxious +look upon his face. His eyes first sought the face of his wife; but +seeing her lie in the tranquil sleep which was her best medicine, +he was satisfied of her well being, and without putting his usual +string of questions he began abruptly to ask of Dinah:</p> +<p>"Have you heard news of this terrible fire?"</p> +<p>Both nurses looked earnestly at him.</p> +<p>"Is it not yet extinguished, my lord?"</p> +<p>"Extinguished? no, nor likely to be, if all we hear be true. I +have not seen it with mine own eyes. I was at Whitehall all the +day, and heard no more than that some houses and churches in the +east had been burned. But they say now that the flames are +spreading this way with all the violence of a tempest at sea, and +those who have been to see say that it is like a great sea of fire, +rushing over everything so that nothing can hinder it. The Lord +Mayor and his aldermen have been down since the morning, striving +to do what they can; but, so far as report says, the flames are yet +unchecked. It seems impossible that they should ever reach even to +us here; but I am somewhat full of fear. What would befall my poor +young wife if the fire were to threaten this house?"</p> +<p>Dinah looked grave and anxious. Lady Desborough's condition was +critical, and she could only be moved at considerable risk. But it +seemed impossible that the fire could travel all this distance. +Only the troubled look on the husband's face would have convinced +her that such a thing could be contemplated for a moment even by +the faintest-hearted.</p> +<p>"You would not have us move her now, ere the danger approaches?" +asked the husband anxiously.</p> +<p>"No, my lord. To move her tonight would be, I think, certain +death," answered Dinah gravely. "She has but passed the crisis of a +very serious fever, and is weak as a newborn babe. We will strive +all we can to get up her strength, that she may be able for what +may come. But I trust and hope the fire will be extinguished long +ere it reaches us. Oh, surely never was there fire that burned for +days and destroyed whole streets and parishes!"</p> +<p>"And oh, my lord, can you tell us if the bridge is safe?" asked +Janet clasping her hands together in an agony of uncertainty and +fear. "Have you heard news of the bridge? Oh, say it is not burned! +They all talk of the east, but what does that mean? Who can tell me +if my father's house has escaped?"</p> +<p>Lord Desborough was a very kindly man, and the distress of the +girl touched him.</p> +<p>"I will go forth and ask news of all who have been thither to +see," he answered. "Many have gone both by land and water to see +the great sight. I would go likewise, save that I fear to leave my +wife. But, at least, I will seek all the news I can get, and come +again to you."</p> +<p>The master of the house went forth, and the two anxious +watchers, after a long look at their patient to satisfy themselves +that she was sleeping peacefully, and not likely to wake suddenly, +crept silently into an adjoining room, where a large window looking +eastward enabled them to see in the sky that strange and terrible +glow, which was so bright and fierce as darkness fell that they +were appalled in beholding it spreading and brightening in the +sky.</p> +<p>"Good lack, what a terrible fire it must be!" cried Janet, +wringing her hands together. "O good aunt, what can resist the +oncoming fury of such a fearful conflagration? Would that I knew my +father's house was safe. But, at least, those within must have had +warning, and they could with ease escape by water if even the +streets were in flames. Alack, this poor city! It does indeed seem +as though the vials of God's wrath were being poured out upon it! +Will His hand be stayed till all is destroyed? Surely the hearts of +men must turn back to Him in these days of dire calamity!"</p> +<p>Dinah gravely shook her head, her face lighted up by the +ever-increasing light in the eastern sky, which grew brighter and +brighter with the gathering shades of night.</p> +<p>"Methought in those terrible days of the plague that surely +men's hearts would, for the future, be set upon higher things, +seeing how they had learned by fearful experience that man's life +is but a vapour that the wind carrieth away. But as soon as the +pressing peril abated, they hardened their hearts, and turned hack +to their evil ways. It may be that even this warning will be lost +upon them. God alone knows how many will see His hand in this great +judgment, and will turn to Him in fear if not in love!"</p> +<p>Before many minutes had passed affrighted servants began peeping +and then crowding into the room, as though they felt more assurance +in presence of Dinah's quiet steadfastness and courage. The faces +of the maids were pale with apprehension. It was difficult to +believe, in the midst of this ruddy glare which actually palpitated +as the lights and shadows danced upon the wall, that the fire was +yet as distant as was reported. All the menservants had run out +into the streets after news of the progress of the fire, and the +women were scared by their absence. Dinah did what she could to +calm them, pointing out that since they could as yet neither hear +nor feel anything of so great a fire, it must still be a great way +off. It was hardly possible to believe that it would be permitted +to sweep onwards much longer unchecked. By this time men's minds +must be fully alive to the great peril in which all London stood, +and she doubted not that some wise measures would soon be taken to +stay the spread of the flames. She advised the maidens to go to bed +and not think any more about it. Let them commend themselves to God +and seek to sleep. She would undertake to watch, and to rouse them +up should there be any need during the night.</p> +<p>Somewhat appeased and comforted by these words, the maids +withdrew and sought their needed rest. But Janet and Dinah returned +to the sickroom, resolved to keep vigil there, and only to sleep by +turns upon the couch, ready dressed in case of emergency.</p> +<p>It was nigh upon midnight before Lord Desborough returned, and +he was so blackened and begrimed that they scarcely knew him.</p> +<p>His wife was still sleeping the sleep of exhausted nature, and, +after one glance at her, the young nobleman turned towards Janet, +who was quivering all over in her anxiety to hear the news.</p> +<p>"Well, maiden, thy father's house is safe, and half the bridge +is safe; and the thanks of that are due to him and to a worthy +neighbour, who by their wise exertions stayed the fire, which might +else have spread even to the other side of the river."</p> +<p>Janet and Dinah exchanged looks of unspeakable relief, and Lord +Desborough continued in the same cautious undertone:</p> +<p>"Once out of doors, the fire fever quickly got its hold on me, +even as it has gotten hold upon almost every person in the city. I +had not meant to go far but I took a wherry, and, the tide serving +well, I was swiftly borne along towards the bridge, and from the +river I saw the raging of such a fire as, methinks, the world has +never seen before. No words of mine can paint the awful grandeur of +the sight I saw. It was as light as day upon the water, and there +were times when the river itself seemed ablaze. For, as the flames +wrought havoc amongst the warehouses and stores along the wharfs, +burning masses of oil and tar would pour out upon the bosom of the +water, blazing terribly, and the boatmen had to keep a sharp watch +sometimes lest they and their craft should be engulfed in the fiery +stream. To the ignorant, who knew not what caused the water to wear +this aspect of burning, it appeared as though even the river had +ignited. This increased their terrors tenfold, and they say that +some poor distraught creatures actually flung themselves into the +fire or the water, convinced that the end of the world had come, +and careless as to whether they perished soon or late."</p> +<p>"But my father--my father!" cried Janet earnestly.</p> +<p>"Ah, true, thy father. I heard of him from the watermen in the +wherries, who told me the tale of how he had saved the bridge by +pulling down his workshops and drenching the ruins with water. It +seemeth to me that unless some prompt and resolute course of a +similar kind is taken tomorrow or tonight, infinite loss must +ensue. No ordinary means can now check this great fire. But surely +the Lord Mayor and his advisers will have by now a plan on foot. +Were I not so weary, and anxious about my wife, I would go forth +once more to see what was doing. But I must wait now for the +morrow, and then, pray Heaven all danger may be at an end. Fear +not, good friends, if you hear terrible sounds as of an earthquake +shaking the house this night. Men say that if the city is to be +saved it must be by the blowing up of whole streets of small houses +somewhere in the path of the flames, so that they shall have +nothing whereon to feed. Others say that nothing will stop them, +and that none will be found ready to make sacrifice of their +dwellings for the public good, preferring to risk the chance of the +flames reaching them. I know not the truth of all the rumours +flying about; but the thing might be, and might be wisely done. So +fear not if you should hear some sounds that will make you think of +an earthquake. And call me if aught alarms you, or if my wife +should change either for the better or the worse."</p> +<p>So saying, Lord Desborough took himself off to his well-earned +repose; and the two nurses passed the night, sometimes waking and +sometimes sleeping, but not disturbed by any strange sounds of +explosion, and hopeful, as the night passed without special event, +that the fire had been extinguished.</p> +<p>But morning brought appalling accounts of its spread. Nothing +had been done, it seemed, to stay its course. It had reached +Cheapside, and was rushing a headlong course down it, and even the +Guildhall, men said, would not escape. North and west the great, +rolling body of the flames was spreading; churches were going down +before it, one after the other, as helplessly as the timber and +plaster houses, which burned like so much tinder. Hour after hour +as that day passed by fresh and terrible items of news were brought +in. Would anything ever stop the oncoming sea of fire? +Surely--surely something would be done to save St. Paul's. Surely +that magnificent and time-honoured structure would not be permitted +to perish without some attempt to save it!</p> +<p>Dinah went out at midday for a mouthful of air, leaving Janet in +charge of the sick lady. She turned her steps towards the great +edifice towering up in all its grandeur towards the sunny sky. It +was hard indeed to believe that it could succumb to the devouring +element, so solid and unconsumable it looked. Yet, although all men +were asserting vehemently that "Paul's could never burn," all faces +were looking anxious, and all ears were eagerly attuned to catch +any new item of news which a messenger or passerby might bring.</p> +<p>The murkiness in the air, faintly discernible even yesterday, +had become very marked by this time. The smell of fire was in the +air, although as yet the terrible roaring of the flames, of which +all men who had been near it were speaking, had not yet become +audible in the Babel of talk going on in the streets and about the +great church. The dean and canons were grouped about the precincts, +looking anxiously into each other's faces, as though to seek to +read encouragement from one another. Nothing was talked of but the +fire, the incapacity shown by the civic authorities in dealing with +it, and lamentations that good Sir John Lawrence, who had coped so +ably with the pestilence last year, should be no longer in office +at this second great crisis.</p> +<p>Still it was averred on all hands that something was about to be +done; that it was too scandalous to stand by panic stricken whilst +the whole city perished. Every one seemed to have heard talk +respecting the demolition or blowing up of houses in the path of +the flames; but none could say actually that it had been done, or +was about to be done, in any given locality.</p> +<p>Burned out households were pouring continually along the choked +thoroughfares, striving to find safe places where they might bestow +such goods as they had succeeded in saving. Charitable persons were +occupied in housing and feeding those who had nothing of their own; +whilst others, whose fears were on a larger scale, were fleeing +altogether away from the city to friends in the country beyond, +desiring only to escape the coming judgment, which seemed like that +poured out on Sodom.</p> +<p>Dinah went back with a very grave face to her charge. The poor +lady had now recovered her senses, and though as weak as a newborn +babe, was able to smile from time to time upon her husband, who sat +beside her holding her hand between his. He was so overjoyed at +this happy change in his wife's condition that he had no thought to +spare at this moment for the peril of the city. He asked for no +news as Dinah appeared; and indeed it was very necessary that the +patient should not be in any wise alarmed or excited.</p> +<p>Dinah, however, was becoming very uneasy as time went on; and +she was certain that the air grew darker than could be accounted +for by the falling dusk, and upon going to the east window as the +twilight fell, she was appalled by the awful glare in the sky, and +was certain that now, indeed, she did begin to distinguish the +roaring of the flames as the wind drifted them ever onwards and +onwards.</p> +<p>Had it not been for the exceedingly critical state in which the +patient lay, she would have suggested her removal before things +grew worse. As it was, it might be death to move her; and perhaps +the flames would be stayed ere they reached the noble cathedral +pile. Surely every effort would be made for that end. It was +difficult to imagine that the citizens would not combine together +in some great and mighty effort to save their homes and their +sanctuary before it should be too late.</p> +<p>"What an awful sight!" exclaimed a soft voice behind her. +"Heaven grant the peril be not so nigh as it looks!"</p> +<p>It was Lord Desborough, who had come in and was looking with +anxious eyes at the flaming sky, over which great clouds of sparks +and flaming splinters could be seen drifting. It might only be +fancy, but the room seemed to be growing hot with the breath of the +fire. The young nobleman's face was very grave and disturbed.</p> +<p>"What must we do?" he asked of Dinah. "Can she be moved? Ought +we to take her elsewhere?"</p> +<p>"I would we could," answered Dinah, "but she is so weak that it +may be death to carry her hence, and if we spoke to her of this +terrible thing that is happening, the shock might bring back the +fever, and then, indeed, all would be lost."</p> +<p>The husband wrung his hands together in the utmost anxiety. +Dinah stood thinking deeply.</p> +<p>"My lord," she presently said, "it may come to this, that she +will have to be moved, risk or no risk. Should we not think about +whither to take her if it be needful?"</p> +<p>"Ay, verily; but where may that be? Who can know what place is +safe? And to transport her far would be certain death. She would +die on the road thither."</p> +<p>"That is very true, my lord," answered Dinah; "but it has come +into my mind that, perchance, my sister's house could receive +her--that house upon the bridge, which is now safe, and which can +be in no danger again, since all the city about it lies in ashes. +By boat we could transport her most gently of all; and tonight, +upon the rising tide, it might well be done, if the need should +become more pressing."</p> +<p>"A good thought! a happy thought indeed!" cried Lord Desborough. +"But art thou sure that thy good kinsmen will have room within +their walls? They may have befriended so many."</p> +<p>"That is like enow," answered Dinah; "I have thought of that +myself. My lord, methinks it would be a good plan for you to take +boat now, at once, taking the maid Janet with you as a guide and +spokeswoman. She will take you to her father's house and explain +all; and then her father and brothers will come back with you, if +need presses more sorely, and help us to transport thither the poor +lady. I will sit by her the while, and by plying her with cordials +and such food as she can swallow, strive to feed her feeble +strength; and if the flames seem coming nearer and nearer, I will +make shift to dress her in such warm and easy garments as are best +suited to the journey she may have to take. And I will trust to you +to be back to save us ere the danger be over great."</p> +<p>"That I will! that I will!" cried the eager husband. "The plan +is an excellent one! I will lose not a moment in acting upon it. I +like not the look of yon sky. I fear me there will be no staying +the raging of the flames. I will lose not a minute. Bid the girl be +ready, and we will forth at once. We will take boat at Baynard's +Castle, and be back again ere two hours have passed!"</p> +<p>Janet was delighted with the plan. She was restless and nervous +here, and anxiously eager to know what had befallen her own people. +She would gladly have had Dinah to go also, but saw that the sick +lady could not be left, and that it would not be right to move her +save on urgent necessity; but to go and get a band of eager helpers +to come to the rescue if need be satisfied her entirely, and she +said a joyful farewell to her aunt, promising to send help right +speedily.</p> +<p>Left alone with her patient, Dinah commenced her task of feeding +the lamp of life, and seeking by every means in her power to +prepare the patient for the possible transit. Once she was called +from the room by some commotion without, and found the frightened +servants all huddled together outside the door, uncertain whether +to fly the place altogether or to wait till some one came with +definite news as to the magnitude of the peril. The light in the +sky was terrible. The showers of sparks were falling all round the +houses and the cathedral. The roar of the approaching fire began to +be clearly distinguished above every other sound.</p> +<p>Dinah, who knew that tumult and affright were the worst things +possible for her patient, counselled the cowering maids to make +good their escape at once, since there was nothing to be done in +the house that night, and they were far too frightened to sleep. +All had friends who would give them shelter. And soon the house was +silent and empty, for the men had gone off either to the fire or +out of sheer fright, and Dinah was left quite alone with her +patient.</p> +<p>"What is that noise I hear all the time?" asked Lady Desborough +presently, in a feeble voice. "I feel as though there was something +burning in the room. The air seems thick and heavy. Is it my +fantasy, or do I smell burning? Where is my husband? Is there +something the matter going on?"</p> +<p>"There is a bad fire not very far from here, my lady," answered +Dinah quietly. "My lord has gone to see if it be like to spread, +that he may take such steps as are needful. Be not anxious; we are +safe beneath his care. He will let no hurt come nigh us before he +is back to tell us what we shall do."</p> +<p>A tranquil smile lighted the lady's face at these words. She was +in that state of weakness when the mind is not easily ruffled, and +Dinah's calm face and steady voice were very tranquillizing.</p> +<p>"Ah yes, my good lord will not let hurt come nigh us. We will +await his good pleasure. I trust no poor creatures are in peril? +There will be many to help them I trow?"</p> +<p>"Yes, my lady. I have not heard of lives lost; and many say that +it is good for some of the old houses to burn, that they may build +better ones little by little. Now take this cordial, and sleep once +more. I will awaken you when my lord returns."</p> +<p>The lady obeyed, and soon slept again, her pulse stronger and +firmer and her mind at rest.</p> +<p>But Dinah was growing very uneasy. Far though she was above the +street, she heard shouts and cries--muffled and distant truly, but +very apparent to her strained faculties--all indicative of alarm +and the presence of peril. She dared not leave her post at the +bedside, but the air was becoming so thick with smoke that the +patient coughed from time to time, and the nurse was not certain +how much longer it would be possible to breathe in it. She was +certain, too, that the place was becoming hot, increasingly hot, +each minute.</p> +<p>Oh, where was Lord Desborough? why did he not come? At last she +stole from the room and into the adjoining chamber, and then indeed +an awful sight met her shrinking gaze.</p> +<p>A pillar of lambent flame, which seemed to her to be close at +hand, was rising up in the air as though it reached the very +heavens. It swayed slowly this way and that, surrounded by clouds +of crimson smoke and a veritable furnace of sparks. Then, as she +watched with awed and fascinated gaze, it suddenly seemed to make a +bound towards the tower of St. Paul's standing up majestic and +beautiful against the fiery sky. It fastened upon it like a living +monster greedy of prey. Tongues of flame seemed to be licking it on +all sides, and a mass of fire encircled it.</p> +<p>With a gasp of fear and horror Dinah turned away.</p> +<p>"St. Paul's on fire!" she exclaimed beneath her breath; "God in +His mercy have pity upon us! Can any one save us now?"</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. JUST IN +TIME.</a></h2> +<p>Lady Desborough sat up in bed propped up with pillows, dressed +in such flowing garments as Dinah had been able to array her in, +her eyes shining in anxious expectation, her panting breath showing +the oppression caused by the murkiness of the atmosphere. But in +spite of the peril of the situation, to which she had now awakened +with full comprehension; in spite of the fatigue of being partially +dressed, with a view to sudden flight; in spite of the horror of +knowing herself to be alone with Dinah in this flame-encircled +house, her spirit rose to the occasion, triumphing over the +weakness of the flesh. Dinah had feared that the knowledge of the +peril would extinguish the faint flame of life; but it seemed +rather to cause it to burn more strongly. The fragile creature +looked full of courage, and the fears she experienced at this +moment were less for herself than for others.</p> +<p>"My dear lord! my dear lord!" she kept repeating. "Dinah, if he +were living nothing would keep him from me. Where is he gone? Dost +thou think he will return in time?"</p> +<p>"I think so, my dear lady," answered Dinah in her full, quiet +voice; "I pray he may come soon!"</p> +<p>"Yes, pray for him, pray for him!" cried the lady clasping her +hands, "I have not prayed for him enough. Pray that his precious +life may be preserved!"</p> +<p>Dinah clasped her hands and bent her head. Her whole faculties +seemed merged in one great stress of urgent prayer. The lady looked +at her and touched her hand gently.</p> +<p>"You are a good woman, Dinah Morse. I am glad to have you with +me; but if my good lord come not soon, you must save yourself and +fly. I will not have you lose your life for me. You have not +strength to bear me hence, and I cannot walk. You must fly and save +yourself. For me, if my dear lord be dead, life has nothing for me +to desire it."</p> +<p>"Madam," answered Dinah, in her calm, resolute way, "your good +lord, my master, entrusted you to my care, and that charge I cannot +and will not quit whatever may betide. God is with us in the midst +of the fire as truly as He was in the raging of the plague. He +brought me safe through the one peril, and I can trust Him for this +second one. Our lives we may not recklessly cast away, neither may +we fly from our post of duty lightly, and without due warrant."</p> +<p>Lady Desborough's thin white fingers closed over Dinah's steady +hand with a grateful pressure.</p> +<p>"Thou art a good woman, Dinah," she said. "Thy presence beside +me gives me strength and hope. Truly I should dread to be left +alone, and yet I would not have thee stay if the peril becomes +great."</p> +<p>"We will trust that help may reach us shortly," answered Dinah, +who realized the magnitude of the peril far more clearly than did +the sick lady, who had no idea of the awful extent of the fire.</p> +<p>That it was a bad one she was well aware, and in perilous +proximity to their dwelling; but Dinah had not told her, nor had +she for a moment guessed, that half the city of London was already +destroyed.</p> +<p>"Go and look from the windows," she said a few minutes later, +when the two had sat in silent prayer and meditation for that brief +interval. "Go see what is happening in the street below. I marvel +that I hear so little stir of voices. But the walls are thick, and +we are high up. Go and see what is passing below, and bring me word +again."</p> +<p>Dinah was not loth to obey this behest, being terribly anxious +to know what was happening around them. Neither by word nor by sign +would she add to the anxieties of Lady Desborough, knowing how much +might depend upon her calmness if the chance of rescue offered +itself; but she herself began to entertain grave fears for the +safety of this house, wedged in, as it appeared to her to be, +between masses of blazing buildings.</p> +<p>Running up to the top attics of the house, which commanded views +almost every way, the sight which greeted her eyes was indeed +appalling. The whole mass of St. Paul's grand edifice was alight, +and the flames were rushing up the walls like fiery serpents whilst +the dull roar of the conflagration was like the booming of the +breakers on an iron-bound coast. Grand and terrible was the sight +presented by that vast sea of flame, which extended eastward as far +as the eyes could see. It was more brilliantly light now, in the +middle of the night, than in the brightest summer noontide, +although the blood-red glare was terrible in its intensity, and +brought to Dinah's spirit, with a shudder of horror, a vision of +the bottomless pit with its eternal fires.</p> +<p>But without pausing to linger to watch the awful grandeur of the +burning cathedral, she hastily passed from attic to attic to see +how matters were going in other quarters, and she soon discovered, +to her dismay and anxiety, that the flames had crept around the +little wedge-like block of buildings in which this mansion stood, +and that they were literally ringed round by fire. By some caprice, +or perhaps owing to its solidity of structure, this small +three-cornered block, containing about three good houses, had not +yet ignited; but the hungry flames were creeping on apace, and, as +it seemed to Dinah, from all sides. As she took in this fact, it +seemed to her that help could never reach them now, and that all +they could do was to strive to meet death with as calm and bold a +spirit as they could, commending their souls to God, and trusting +that He would raise up their bodies at the last day, even though +they might be consumed to ashes in the midst of this burning +fire.</p> +<p>What was that noise? Surely a shout from below. Dinah started, +and fled hastily down the staircase. In another moment she heard +more plainly.</p> +<p>"Sweet heart, sweet heart, where art thou--oh where art +thou?"</p> +<p>It was Lord Desborough's voice; she recognized it with a thrill +of gladness. But there was another voice mingling with it which she +also knew, and she heard her own name called with equal +urgency.</p> +<p>"Dinah! Mistress Dinah! Ah, pray God we have not come too late! +Dinah, we are here to save you both! Show yourself, if you be still +there. Pray Heaven they have not rushed forth in their fears and +perished in the flames!"</p> +<p>In another instant Dinah had rushed to a window, which seemed to +be on the same side of the house as the voices--namely, at the +back; and, in the narrow court below, she saw Lord Desborough, the +Master Builder, her brother, and Reuben, all clustered together, +with ladders and ropes, and all calling aloud to those within to +show themselves.</p> +<p>"We are here! we are safe! but the fire is well nigh upon us," +answered Dinah, who had just been convinced by the rolling of the +smoke up the staircase that the lower part of the house was in +flames.</p> +<p>"Thank God! thank God! they are still there!" cried Lord +Desborough at sight of her; whilst the Master Builder, who was +getting a ladder into position in order to run it up to the window +where she stood, spoke rapidly and commandingly:</p> +<p>"There is no time to lose. The house is ringed by fire. It will +be all we can do to make good our escape. The front of the place is +in flames already; we cannot approach that way, and the street is +full of waves of fire. Can you make shift to bring out the sick +lady to this window? or--"</p> +<p>Dinah vanished the moment she understood what was to be done; +but quick as were her movements, Lord Desborough was in the room +almost as soon as she was. He must have darted up the ladder almost +ere it was in position, and the next moment he had his wife in his +arms, straining her passionately to his breast, as she cried in +joyful accents:</p> +<p>"O my love, my dear, dear love! methought thou hadst perished in +yon fearful fire!"</p> +<p>"It is more fearful than thou dost know, sweet heart, but with +Heaven's help we will bear thee safe through it. Shut thine eyes, +dear heart, and trust to me. We have won our way thus far in the +teeth of many a peril. Pray Heaven we make good our escape in like +fashion. We have taken every measure of precaution."</p> +<p>In her great delight at having her husband back safe and sound, +and in her state of exceeding weakness, Lady Desborough understood +little of the terrible nature of what was happening. She felt her +husband's arms round her; she knew he had come to save her from +danger; and her trust was so perfect and implicit that it left no +room in her heart for anxious fears. She closed her eyes like a +tired child, and laid her head upon his shoulder.</p> +<p>He was a strong man, and she had wasted in the fever to a mere +shadow, and was always small and slight. He carried her as easily +as though she had been an infant; and making straight for the open +window, he climbed out upon the ladder and went slowly and steadily +down it, whilst those below held it for him.</p> +<p>Dinah watched the descent with eager eyes, unheeding all else. +She never thought to look behind her. She had no idea that a mass +of flames had suddenly come rushing up the stairway behind her. She +was conscious of an overpowering heat and a rush of blinding smoke +that caused her to stagger back gasping for breath; but it was only +as she actually felt the hot breath of the flames upon her cheek, +and saw that the whole house had suddenly become involved in the +universal destruction, that she knew what had befallen her, and +that death was striving hard to clutch her and make her its +prey.</p> +<p>With a short, sharp cry, she staggered towards the open window, +but the heat and the smoke made her dizzy. She fell against the +frame, and uttered a faint cry for help; and then it seemed to her +that the body of flame behind leaped upon her like a live thing. +She was conscious for a moment of making a fierce and desperate +struggle, and then she knew no more, for black darkness swallowed +her up, and her last moment of consciousness was spent in a prayer +that the Lord would be with her in death and receive her spirit +into His hands.</p> +<p>When next Dinah opened her eyes it was to find a cool wind +blowing on her face, and to feel an unwonted motion of the bed (as +she supposed it for a moment) on which she was lying. Everything +was bright as day about her, but everything seemed to be dyed the +hue of blood. The next moment sense and memory returned. She +realized that she was lying in the bottom of a boat, which men were +rowing with steady strokes. She saw Lord Desborough sitting in the +stern, only a few feet away, still clasping his wife in his arms. +She knew that her head was lying in somebody's lap, and the next +moment she heard a familiar voice saying:</p> +<p>"Ah! she is better now. She has opened her eyes!"</p> +<p>"Rachel!" exclaimed Dinah sitting suddenly up, in spite of a +sensation of giddiness which made everything swim before her eyes +for a few moments; and Rachel Harmer looked down into her face and +smiled.</p> +<p>"Dear Dinah, thank Heaven thou art safe! I hear that thou wert +in fearful peril in this burning city; but our good neighbour +brought thee forth from the blazing house just as the boards on +which thou wert standing gave way beneath thy feet. Oh, how +thankful must we be that our home and our dear ones have all been +preserved to us, when half the city is lying in ruins!"</p> +<p>Dinah raised herself up still more at these words, and turned +her eyes in the direction of the raging flames on the north side of +the river; and only then was she able to realize something of the +terrible magnitude of that great conflagration.</p> +<p>The boat was hugging the Southwark shore, for indeed it was +scarce safe to approach the other, save from motives of dire +necessity, and so thickly did sparks and fragments of blazing +matter fall hissing into the river for quite half its width, that +boats were chary of adventuring themselves much beyond the +Southwark bank, save those conveying persons or goods from some of +the many wharfs; and these made straight across with their cargoes +as soon as they could quit the shore.</p> +<p>"It is terrible! terrible!" gasped Dinah. "It is like the mouth +of a volcano! And to think that but a short hour since I was in the +midst of it. O sister, tell me how thou comest to be here. Tell me +how I was snatched from the flames, for, verily, I thought I was +their prey."</p> +<p>Rachel put a trembling arm about her sister's shoulders as she +made reply.</p> +<p>"Truly there were those standing by who thought the same. But +for the brave expedition of our neighbour there, methinks thou +wouldst have perished; but let me tell the tale from the +beginning.</p> +<p>"It was some time after dark--I scarce know how the hours have +sped through these two strange nights and days, when the day seems +almost dimmer than the night. But suddenly there was Janet with +us--Janet and my Lord Desborough, come with news that the fire had +threatened even St. Paul's, and that he desired help to save his +sick wife and thee, Dinah, ere the flames should have reached his +abode. Janet told us much of the poor lady's state, and we made all +fitting preparation to receive her. But none were at home save the +boys, and they had to go forth and find their father and brother, +to return with Lord Desborough to help him in his work of rescue. +He would fain have got others and not have tarried so long. But all +men seem distraught by fear, and would not listen to his promises +of reward, nor face the perils either of the journey by water or of +an approach to the flaming city."</p> +<p>"Indeed it hath a fearful aspect!" said Dinah thoughtfully, as +she turned her eyes upon the blazing mass that had been teeming +with life but a few short hours ago. "Hast heard, sister, whether +many poor creatures have perished in the flames? Oh, my heart has +been sad for them, thinking of all the homeless and all the +dead!"</p> +<p>"They say that wondrous few have fallen victims to the fire," +said Rachel, "and those that have perished are, for the most part, +poor, distraught creatures, whom terror caused to fling away their +lives, or like my Lady Scrope, who would not leave her home and +preferred to perish with it. It is sad enough to think of the +thousands who have lost home and goods in the fire. But had it come +before the plague had ravaged the city so fearfully, it must have +been tenfold worse. Methinks if the lanes and courts of the city +had been crowded as they were then, the loss of life must needs +have been far greater."</p> +<p>"But to proceed with thy tale," said Dinah after a pause. "How +was it that thou didst adventure thyself with the rescuing party in +the boat?"</p> +<p>"Methought that, as there were helpless women to be saved, a +woman might find work to do suited more to her than to the men +folks. Moreover, I may not deny that I felt a great and mighty +desire to see this wonderful fire more nigh. Custom has used us to +so much since it commenced that the terror of it has somewhat +faded. They were saying that St. Paul's was blazing or like to +blaze. I desired to see that awful sight; and see it I did right +well, as we pushed the boat into mid-water after landing Lord +Desborough and his assistants at Baynard's Castle. They were some +half hour gone, and we sat and watched the fire, in some fear truly +for them, for the flames seemed devouring everything, but with +confidence that they would act with all prudence, and in the full +belief that the fire had not yet attacked my lord's house."</p> +<p>"Ah, but it had!" said Dinah with a little shiver. "I would not +have believed that flames could sweep on at such a fearful pace. +One minute we seemed safe, the next it was seething round us!"</p> +<p>"That is what they all say of this fire. It travels with such an +awful rapidity, and will suddenly pounce like a live thing upon +some building hitherto unharmed, and in an incredibly short time +will have licked it up, if one may so speak, leaving nothing but a +mass of smouldering ashes behind."</p> +<p>"I know how it leaps," spoke Dinah, with a little shiver. "I +cannot think even now how I came to be saved."</p> +<p>"It was our good neighbour, the Master Builder, who saved thee +at risk of his life," answered Rachel with a little sob in her +voice. "It was a terrible thing to see, Reuben tells me. He and his +father were holding the ladder, and Lord Desborough was bringing +down his wife, when all in a moment the house seemed engulfed in +one of those great flame waves of which all men are speaking, and +they saw you totter and fall, as if it had engulfed thee in its +deadly embrace. Lord Desborough was not yet down the ladder, and +knew nothing of thy peril, being engrossed in tender care for his +wife. Nobody could pass him, nor would the ladder bear a greater +weight; but the next moment they saw that our good neighbour had +somehow got another ladder against the wall and was rushing up it +at a pace that seemed impossible. Reuben ran to steady this ladder, +for it was like to fall with the quaking and shaking. And then, +just before they heard the fall of the burning floors, he saw the +Master Builder coming down bearing his burden safely; and once +having both of you safe, there was not a moment to lose in making +for the boat. Already the alley was full of blinding flame and +choking smoke, and it was all the men could do to carry the pair of +you safe to Baynard's Castle, where we took you all on board, but +only two minutes before the fire began to blaze there also. See, by +looking back thou canst see how fiercely it is burning!</p> +<p>"God alone knows how and where it will be stayed. They say it is +spreading northward as furiously as it flies westward. If the city +walls stay not its course, all London will surely perish."</p> +<p>Dinah was silent a while, looking seriously before her. Then she +lifted her face nearer to her sister's and said:</p> +<p>"Prithee, tell me, has our good friend and neighbour suffered +hurt in thus adventuring his life for me?"</p> +<p>"He has not spoken of it, if so be that he has," was the answer; +"but the haste and peril and confusion were too great for many +words. We shall soon be at home now, and all who need it will +receive tendance. I fear me, dear sister, that thou canst not +altogether have escaped the cruel embrace of the fire. Thy garments +were singed and charred: but this cloak covers thee well and +protects thee from the night air."</p> +<p>Dinah moved herself, and felt no hurt. She looked anxiously +towards Lord Desborough, as though to ask how it went with his +lady. Fortunately the night was warm and calm, save for the light +breeze that was enough to fan the fierce flames onward and onward. +By day the wind blew hard from the east; but it dropped at night, +and this was no small boon to the many homeless creatures who had +no roofs to shelter their heads.</p> +<p>Once landed at the Southwark wharf, the party was soon within +the sheltering doors of the twin houses. Gertrude came forth to +meet them, anxious solicitude written on every line of her +face.</p> +<p>The first care was for the poor lady, for whom they had made +ready a pleasant and airy room. She was carried thither, and Dinah +followed to see what was her condition; and although she was +exceedingly weak, she was not unconscious, and so long as she had +her husband beside her holding her hand, she seemed to care nothing +for the strangeness of her surroundings, or for the perils through +which she had passed.</p> +<p>"Verily, I think she will live," said Dinah, when Janet had fed +her with some of the strong broth which had been made in readiness. +"She looks not greatly worse than when she started up in bed in her +own house with the consciousness that there was fire near. I had +not thought so tender a frame could go through so much of peril and +hardship; but methinks her lord's return was the charm that worked +so marvellously for her; for, truly, she had begun to fear him +dead."</p> +<p>Satisfied as to her patient, Dinah allowed herself to be taken +care of by Gertrude, who insisted on removing her burned garments, +and assuring herself that no other hurt had been done. It was +wonderful what an escape Dinah's had been, for there was scarcely +any mark of fire upon her, only a little redness here and there, +but nothing approaching to a severe burn. She declared that she +could not go to bed in the midst of so much excitement; and after +telling Gertrude of the wonderful nature of her own escape, she +added, with a slightly heightened colour:</p> +<p>"I would fain assure myself of the welfare of thy brave father, +for it may be that he may have sustained some hurt; and if that be +so, we must minister to his needs right speedily. Much depends in +burns upon the promptness with which they are dressed."</p> +<p>Gertrude's filial anxiety was at once aroused, as well as her +warm admiration for her father's courage and devotion. Together +they sought him out and found him in one of the lower rooms, a +plate of food before him, which, however, he had hardly +touched.</p> +<p>The moment he saw his daughter, who entered a little in advance, +he rose hastily and exclaimed:</p> +<p>"Tell me how she does. Has she received any hurt?"</p> +<p>"Lady Desborough?" asked Gertrude; "they all say she--"</p> +<p>"Nay, nay, child, not Lady Desborough! What is Lady Desborough +to me? I mean Dinah, that noble, devoted woman, who would not leave +her mistress even in the face of deadly peril. Tell me of her! Tell +me--"</p> +<p>And here the Master Builder came to a dead stop, and paused for +a moment in bashful shamefacedness most unwonted with him, for +there was Dinah entering behind his daughter, and surely she must +have heard every word.</p> +<p>"Dinah is not hurt, father," said Gertrude, covering the awkward +pause with ready tact; "her escape has been truly wonderful. She +wishes to know whether you also have escaped; for she tells me that +you must have faced a sea of flame in order to get to her."</p> +<p>"Your arm is hurt--is burned!" said Dinah coming forward +quickly, her eye detecting that much in a moment. "Gertrude, bring +me the oil and the linen. I will bind it up before I do aught else. +When the air is kept away the smart is wonderfully allayed."</p> +<p>The burn was rather a severe one, but the Master Builder seemed +to feel no pain under the dexterous manipulation of Dinah's gentle, +capable hands. When he would have thanked her she gave him a quick +look, and made a low-toned answer.</p> +<p>"Nay, nay, I can hear no thanks from thee. Do I not owe thee my +life? But for thee I should not be here now. It is I who must thank +thee--only I have no words in which to do it."</p> +<p>"Then let us do without words between us for the future, Dinah," +said the Master Builder, possessing himself of one of her hands, +which was not withdrawn. "If thou hadst perished in the fire, life +had had nothing left for me. Does not that show that we belong to +each other? I have not much to give, but all I have is thine; and I +think thou mightest go the world over and not find a more loving +heart!"</p> +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. THE FLAMES +STAYED.</a></h2> +<p>"Something must be done! The whole city must not perish! It is a +shame that so much destruction has already taken place. What are +the city magnates about that they stand idle, wringing their hands, +whilst all London burns about their ears?"</p> +<p>Young Lord Desborough was the speaker. He had risen in some +excitement from the table where he had been seated at breakfast, +for James Harmer had just come in with the news that the fire was +still burning with the same fierceness as of old; that it had +spread beyond the city walls, Ludgate and Newgate having both been +reduced to a heap of smoking ruins; that it was spreading northward +and westward as fiercely as ever; whilst even in an easterly +direction it was creeping slowly and insidiously along, so that men +began to whisper that the Tower itself would eventually fall a +prey.</p> +<p>"Nay, now, but that must not, that shall not be!" cried Lord +Desborough in great excitement. "Shame enough for London that St. +Paul's is gone! Are we to lose every ancient building of historic +fame? What would his Majesty say were that to perish also? Zounds! +methinks my Lord Mayor must surely be sleeping. In good King Henry +the Eighth's reign his head would have been struck off ere now.</p> +<p>"Thou hast seen him, thou sayest, good Master Harmer. What does +he purpose to do? Surely he cannot desire all the city to perish. +Yet, methinks, that will be what will happen, if indeed it be not +already accomplished."</p> +<p>"He is like one distraught," answered Harmer. "I went to him +yesterday, and I have been again at break of day this morn. I have +told him how we saved the bridge, and have begged powers of him to +effect great breaches at various points to stay the ravages of the +flames; but he will do naught but say he must consider, he must +consider."</p> +<p>"And whilst he considers, London burns to ashes!" cried the +young nobleman in impetuous scorn. "A plague upon his consideration +and his reflections! We want a man who can act in times like these. +Beshrew me if I go not to his Majesty myself and tell him the whole +truth. Methinks if he but knew the dire need for bold measures, +London might even now be saved--so much of it as yet remains. If +the Lord Mayor is worse than a child at such a crisis, let us to +his Majesty and see what he will say!"</p> +<p>"A good thought, in truth," answered Harmer thoughtfully. "But +surely his Majesty knows?"</p> +<p>"Ay, after a fashion doubtless; but it takes some little time to +rouse the lion spirit in him. He is wont to laugh and jest somewhat +too much, and dally with news, whilst he throws the dice with his +courtiers, or passes a compliment to some fair lady. He takes life +somewhat too lightly does my lord the King, until he be thoroughly +roused. But the blood of kings runs in his veins; and let him but +be awakened to the need for action, then he can act as a sovereign, +indeed."</p> +<p>"Then, good my lord, in the name of all those poor townsfolk +whose houses are standing yet, let the King be roused to a full +sense of the dire peril!" cried Harmer, in almost passionate tones; +"for if some one come not to their help, I trow there will not be a +house within or without the city that will not be reduced to ashes +ere two more days have passed."</p> +<p>"It is terrible to think of," said the Master Builder, who was +taking his meal with the young lord, by his special desire, both +having slept late into the morning after the exertions of the +previous night. "If you, my lord, can get speech of the King, and +show him the things you have seen and suffered, methinks that that +should be enough to rouse him. And doubtless you could get speech +of his Majesty without trouble, whereas a humble citizen might sue +for hours in vain."</p> +<p>"Yes, I trow that I could obtain an audience without much ado," +answered Lord Desborough, though he gave rather a doubtful glance +at his soiled and fire-blackened garments, which were all he had in +the world since the burning of his house. "But I would have you go +with me also, good Masters Harmer and Mason; for it was your prompt +methods that saved the bridge, and perchance all Southwark too. I +would have you with me to add your testimony to mine.</p> +<p>"Master Harmer, your name was spoken often in the time of the +raging of the plague, as that of a brave and loyal citizen. It is +likely his Majesty may bear it still in mind, and it will give +weight to any testimony you have to offer."</p> +<p>Harmer and the Master Builder exchanged glances. They had not +thought to appear before royalty, but they were willing to do +anything that might be for the good of the town; and whilst the one +hurried away to procure a wherry to take them as near as might be +to Whitehall, the other supplied, from the stores in the shop, a +new court suit to young Lord Desborough befitting his rank and +station.</p> +<p>Lady Desborough was going on better than any had dared to hope. +Her husband stole in to look at her before his departure, and was +rewarded by a sweet and tranquil smile. He stole towards the +bedside and kissed her, telling her he was going to see the King; +and she, knowing that his duties called him often to Court, asked +no question, and seemed to remember nothing of the fire, but only +bade him return anon to her when he could.</p> +<p>Reuben was going also in the boat, and some of the men as +rowers. Gertrude had donned her best cloak and holiday gown, and +asked wistfully of her husband:</p> +<p>"Prithee take me also; I will not be in your way. But I would +fain see something of this great sight of which all men talk, and +they say it may best be seen from the river."</p> +<p>"Come then, sweet heart, so as thou dost not ask to run into +peril," said Reuben; and by noon the party were well on their way, +their progress being somewhat slow, as the tide was running out, +and there was a considerable press of craft on the river, which was +the only safe roadway now from one part of the burned city to the +other.</p> +<p>As boats passed each other, items of news were exchanged between +the occupants, and every tale added some detail of horror to the +last. Bridewell was in flames now, and many said Newgate also. Some +averred that the prisoners had been left locked up in their cells +to perish miserably, others that they had all been released, and +that London would be swarming with felons and criminals, who would +lead the van in the many acts of plunder which were already being +perpetrated. What might be the truth of all these rumours none +could say; but one thing could at least be gathered, which was that +the fire was still raging unchecked, and that nothing had as yet +been done to stay its progress.</p> +<p>When the boat had reached its destination, Lord Desborough +courteously invited Gertrude and her husband to accompany the +deputation. They had not anticipated any such thing; but curiosity +overcame every other feeling, and before another half hour had +passed they found themselves absolutely within the precincts of +Whitehall, passing along corridors where fine-feathered gallants +and royal lackeys and pages walked hither and thither, and where +their appearance excited some mirthful curiosity, although nobody +spoke openly to them.</p> +<p>Lord Desborough was challenged on all hands, but gave only brief +replies. He would tell no word of his mission; and presently he led +his companions into a small anteroom, which was quite empty, and +charged the servant, who had accompanied them thus far, not to +permit any one to enter so long as they were there. Then he hurried +away to seek audience of the King, but promised to join his +companions again in as brief a time as possible.</p> +<p>"Belike it will be long enough ere we see him again," said +Harmer, who almost regretted having come when there might be work +to do elsewhere. "The ear of royalty is often besieged in vain, or +at least it is a case of hours before an audience can be obtained. +Yon pleasure-loving monarch will care but little if all London +burn, so as he has his ladies and his courtiers about him to make +merry by day and by night!"</p> +<p>By which sentiment it may be gathered that a good deal of the +Puritan sternness of character and distrust of royalty lingered in +the mind of James Harmer, although in this case he was not destined +to be a true prophet.</p> +<p>Half an hour may have passed, certainly not more, before a sound +of approaching voices from the inner room, to which this one was +but the antechamber, announced the approach of some persons. The +listeners within thought they distinguished the tones of Lord +Desborough's voice; nor were they mistaken, for next moment, when +the doors were flung wide open, and the party instinctively rose to +their feet, it was to see the young noble approaching in earnest +talk with a very dark, sallow man in an immense black periwig, whom +in a moment they knew to be the King himself. He was followed by a +still darker man, less richly dressed than himself, but still very +fine and gay, who was so like the King as to be recognized +instantly for the Duke of York.</p> +<p>The little group made deep obeisance as the royal party came +forward, and received in return a carelessly gracious nod from the +King, who flung himself into a seat, and looked at Lord +Desborough.</p> +<p>"His Majesty would know from you, good Masters Harmer and Mason, +what you have seen with your own eyes of this fire, and in +particular how the flames were stayed upon the bridge by your +efforts. He has heard so many contradictory stories from those who +are less well informed, that he will have the tale from first to +last by worthy citizens who are to be trusted to speak truth."</p> +<p>There was no mistaking the ring of truth in the narratives which +were told by the Master Builder and his neighbour.</p> +<p>The King listened almost in silence, but when he did ask a +question it was shrewd and pertinent in its import. The dark face +was lacking neither in force nor in power; and if the eyes of +royalty did, from time to time, stray towards the fair face of +Gertrude, who followed her father's tale with breathless interest, +his talk was all of the means which must forthwith be taken for the +arrest of the fire, and from the sparkle in his eyes it was plain +that he was aroused at last to some purpose.</p> +<p>"Good citizens," he said at length, "since our worthy Mayor has +proved himself a fool and a poltroon, I must needs use such tools +as I have under my hand.</p> +<p>"Bring me pen and paper, knave!" he cried to a servant who was +in attendance; and when the man returned, the King hastily scrawled +a few lines upon the paper, and gave it into the hands of the +citizens.</p> +<p>"My good fellows," he said, in his easy and familiar way, "take +there your authority under my hand, and go and save the Tower. The +Tower must not and shall not perish. Pull down, blow up, sacrifice +as you will, but save you the Tower. As for me, I will forth +instantly and see what may be done in this quarter. The people +shall not say that their King cared no whit whilst the whole city +was burned to ashes. Would I had known more before, but each +messenger brought news that something was about to be done.</p> +<p>"About to be done, forsooth! that is ever the way. Zounds! I +would like to pitch yon cowardly Mayor and his whole corporation +into the heart of the flames! And if something be not done to save +what remains of the city, I will make good my word!"</p> +<p>Then, with a complete change of manner, he rose and came forward +to the corner where Gertrude stood shrinking and quivering, half +frightened by this strange man, yet impressed by some indescribably +kingly quality in him that fascinated her imagination in spite of +all she had heard of him.</p> +<p>"Fair mistress," he said gallantly, "hast thou nothing to ask? +These good citizens have all had their word to say. Am I not to +hear the music of thy voice also?"</p> +<p>Gertrude, startled and abashed, dropped her eyes, and knew not +what to say; but something in the King's glance compelled an answer +of some kind, and a sudden inspiration flashed upon her.</p> +<p>"Sire," she said, in a sweet tremulous voice, her colour coming +and going in her cheek in a most becoming fashion, "may I ask a +boon of your gracious Majesty?"</p> +<p>"A hundred if thou wilt, fair mistress; there is nothing so +sweet to me as obeying the behests of beauty."</p> +<p>She shrank a little from his glance, and her grasp tightened +upon her husband's arm; but she took courage, and went on +bravely:</p> +<p>"I have but one boon to crave, gracious Sire. For myself I have +all that heart of woman could crave; but there is still one small +trouble in my life. My dear father, who stands before you now, was +well-nigh ruined a year ago in that fearful visitation of the +plague. By trade he is a builder, and right well does he know his +business. After this terrible fire there must needs be much +building to do ere the city can be dwelt in. May it please your +gracious Majesty to grant to him a portion of the work, that he may +retrieve his lost fortune, and regain the place which he once held +amongst his fellow citizens!"</p> +<p>"It shall be done, mistress, it shall be done!" answered the +King, with a smile at the girl and a friendly look towards the +Master Builder. "Marry, it is a good thought too; for we shall want +honest and skilful men to rebuild us our city.</p> +<p>"Thy prayer is heard and granted, fair lady. I will not forget +thy petition. I will see to it myself. Farewell, sweet heart! think +always kindly of your King," and he saluted her upon the cheek, +after the fashion of the day.</p> +<p>Then turning briskly to the men he said, in a very different +tone, "Now to our respective tasks, good sirs. We have our work cut +out before us this day. Let it not be our fault if, ere the night +fall upon us, the spreading flames, which are devastating this +city, are stopped, and further destruction arrested."</p> +<p>With a friendly nod, and with a smile to Gertrude, the King went +as suddenly as he came. Lord Desborough lingered only a few moments +to say, in hurried tones:</p> +<p>"Thank Heaven his Majesty is roused at last! Now, indeed, +something will be accomplished. I must remain with him. I shall +have my work, doubtless, somewhere, as you have yours in the east. +Fare you well. We shall meet again at nightfall; and pray Heaven +the fire may by that time be stayed in its ravages!"</p> +<p>Need it be told here how that fire was stayed? how the King and +the Duke, his brother, rode in person at the head of a gallant band +of men-at-arms and soldiers, and directed those measures--long +urged upon the Mayor, but never efficiently carried out--of blowing +up and pulling down large blocks of houses in the path of the +flames, so that their ravages were stayed? It was the King himself +who saved Temple Bar and a part of Fleet Street, the fire being +checked close to St. Dunstan's in the west. Lord Desborough +superintended like operations at Pye corner, hard by Smithfield; +whilst the good citizens, Harmer and Mason, took boat to the Tower +as fast as possible, and with the assistance of the governor, and +by the mandate of the King, checked the slowly advancing flames +just as they had reached the very walls of the fortress itself.</p> +<p>The great and terrible fire was stayed ere nightfall. True, the +flames smouldered and even raged in the burning area for another +day and night, but the spread of them was checked. The citizens, +recovering from their apathetic despair, and encouraged by the +example of their King, no longer stood trembling by, but joined +together to imitate his actions and sacrifice a little property to +save much.</p> +<p>"Thank God, thank God, the peril is at an end! The very flames +have glutted themselves, and are sinking down into the smouldering +heaps of the ruins they have wrought!" said Reuben, coming back on +the Thursday evening from an expedition of inquiry and discovery. +"Terrible indeed is the sight, but the worst is now known. Four +hundred streets, ninety churches--if what I heard be true--and +thirteen thousand houses--fifteen wards destroyed, and eight more +half burned! Was ever such a fire known before? Yet can we say, +Heaven be praised that it has spread no further. Verily, it seemed +once as though nothing would escape!"</p> +<p>Gertrude, too, was full of excitement.</p> +<p>"Father has had a summons from the Lord Mayor. He was urgently +sent for soon after thou hadst gone. O Reuben, dost think the King +has remembered my words to him? dost think he has put in a plea for +my father when the city is rebuilt?"</p> +<p>"It is like enough," answered Reuben; "they say his Majesty does +not forget when his word is plighted. He will be a rich man if he +be employed by the corporation. And how goes the sick lady?"</p> +<p>"So well that my lord has taken her away by boat to a villa hard +by Lambeth, where she will be quieter and more at rest than she +could be here. Janet and Dorcas have gone with her as her maids, +her own servants having fled hither and thither. She would fain +have had Dinah, too, but Dinah was not willing."</p> +<p>Husband and wife smiled a little at each other, and then Reuben +said:</p> +<p>"Thou, wilt have a stepmother soon, little wife. How wilt thou +like that?"</p> +<p>"Well enow, so it be Dinah," answered Gertrude, smiling; "but +there is the father coming in. Prithee, let me run to him and hear +his news!"</p> +<p>Others had seen the approach of the familiar figure, and there +was quite a little group around the door of the two houses to ask +news of the Master Builder as he approached. His face wore a +beaming look, and in reply to the many questions showered upon him +he answered gaily:</p> +<p>"In truth, good friends, if the plague ruined me, it seems as +though the fire was to set me up again. Here is my Lord Mayor, +prompted thereto by his gracious Majesty the King, giving into my +hands the task of seeing to the rebuilding of Bridge Ward, Within, +Billingsgate Ward, Dowgate Ward, and Candlewick Ward. Four wards to +build! why, my fortune is made!"</p> +<p>He gave one quick look at Dinah, and then took her hand in his, +all looking smilingly on the while.</p> +<p>"Thou didst not repulse me when I was but a poor and broken +man," he said; "but, please Heaven, before many months have passed +over my head it will be no mockery to speak of me as Master Builder +once again!"</p> +<p> </p> +<hr /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIGN OF THE RED CROSS***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 13840-h.txt or 13840-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/8/4/13840">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/8/4/13840</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/13840.txt b/old/13840.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..449f0fc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13840.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9477 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Sign Of The Red Cross, by Evelyn +Everett-Green + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Sign Of The Red Cross + +Author: Evelyn Everett-Green + +Release Date: October 23, 2004 [eBook #13840] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIGN OF THE RED CROSS*** + + +E-text prepared by Martin Robb + + + +THE SIGN OF THE RED CROSS + +A Tale of Old London + +by + +EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN + + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. A WARNING WHISPER. + + +"I don't believe a word of it!" cried the Master Builder, with some +heat of manner. "It is just an old scare, the like of which I have +heard a hundred times ere now. Some poor wretch dies of the +sweating sickness, or, at worst, of the spotted fever, and in a +moment all men's mouths are full of the plague! I don't believe a +word of it!" + +"Heaven send you may be right, good friend," quoth Rachel Harmer, as +she sat beside her spinning wheel, and spoke to the accompaniment of +its pleasant hum. "And yet, methinks, the vice and profligacy of this +great city, and the lewdness and wanton wickedness of the Court, are +enough to draw down upon us the judgments of Almighty God. The sin +and the shame of it must be rising up before Him day and night." + +The Master Builder moved a little uneasily in his seat. For his own +part he thought no great harm of the roistering, gaming, and +gallantries of the Court dandies. He knew that the times were very +good for him. Fine ladies were for ever sending for him to alter +some house or some room. Gay young husbands, or those who thought +of becoming husbands, were seldom content nowadays without pulling +their house about their ears, and rebuilding it after some +new-fangled fashion copied from France. Or if the structure were +let alone, the plenishings must be totally changed; and Master +Charles Mason, albeit a builder by trade, and going generally +amongst his acquaintances and friends by the name of Master +Builder, had of late years taken to a number of kindred avocations +in the matter of house plenishings, and so forth. This had brought +him no small profit, as well as intimate relations with many a fine +household and with many grand folks. Money had flowed apace into +his pocket of late. His wife had begun to go about so fine that it +was well for her the old sumptuary laws had fallen into practical +disuse. His son was an idle young dog, chiefly known to the +neighbourhood as being the main leader of a notorious band of +Scourers, of which more anon, and many amongst his former friends +and associates shook their heads, and declared that Charles Mason +was growing so puffed up by wealth that he would scarce vouchsafe a +nod to an old acquaintance in the street, unless he were smart and +prosperous looking. + +The Master Builder had a house upon Old London Bridge. Once he had +carried on his business there, but latterly he had grown too fine +for that. To the disgust of his more simple-minded neighbours, he +had taken some large premises in Cheapside, where he displayed many +fine stuffs for upholstering and drapery, where the new-fashioned +Indian carpets were displayed to view, and fine gilded furniture +from France, which a little later on became the rage all through +the country. His own house was now nothing more than a dwelling +place for himself and his family; even his apprentices and workmen +were lodged elsewhere. The neighbours, used to simpler ways, shook +their heads, and prophesied that the end of so much pride would be +disaster and ruin. But year after year went by, and the Master +Builder grew richer and richer, and could afford to laugh at the +prognostications of those about him, of which he was very well +aware. + +He was perhaps somewhat puffed up by his success. He was certainly +proud of the position he had made. He liked to see his wife sweep +along the streets in her fine robes of Indian silk, which seemed to +set a great gulf between her and her neighbours. He allowed his son +to copy the fopperies of the Court gallants, and even to pick up +the silly French phrases which made the language at Court a mongrel +mixture of bad English and vile French. All these things pleased +him well, although he himself went about clad in much the same +fashion as his neighbours, save that the materials of his clothing +were finer, and his frills more white and crisp; and it was in his +favour that his friendship with his old friend James Harmer had +never waned, although he knew that this honest tradesman by no +means approved his methods. + +Perhaps in his heart of hearts he preferred the comfortable living +room of his neighbour to the grandeur insisted upon by his wife at +home. At any rate, he found his way three or four evenings in the +week to Harmer's fireside, and exchanged with him the news of the +day, or retailed the current gossip of the city. + +Harmer was by trade a gold and silver lace maker. He carried on his +business in the roomy bridge house which he occupied, which was +many stories high, and contained a great number of rooms. He housed +in it a large family, several apprentices, two shopmen, and his +wife's sister, Dinah Morse, at such times as the latter was not out +nursing the sick, which was her avocation in life. + +Mason and Harmer had been boys together, had inherited these two +houses on the bridge from their respective fathers, and had both +prospered in the world. But Harmer was only a moderately affluent +man, having many sons and daughters to provide for; whereas Mason +had but one of each, and had more than one string to his bow in the +matter of money getting. + +In the living room of Harmer's house were assembled that February +evening six persons. It was just growing dusk, but the dancing +firelight gave a pleasant illumination. Harmer and Mason were +seated on opposite sides of the hearth in straight-backed wooden +armchairs, and both were smoking. Rachel sat at her wheel, with her +sister Dinah near to her; and in the background hovered two +fine-looking young men, the two eldest sons of the household--Reuben, +his father's right-hand man in business matters now; and Dan, who +had the air and appearance of a sailor ashore, as, indeed, was the +case with him. + +It was something which Dinah Morse had said that had evoked the +rather fierce disclaimer from the Master Builder, with the +rejoinder by Rachel as to the laxity of the times; and now it was +Dinah's voice which again took up the word. + +"Whether it be God's judgment upon the city, or whether it be due +to the carelessness of man, I know not," answered Dinah quietly; "I +only say that the Bill of Mortality just published is higher than +it has been this long while, and that two in the Parish of St. +Giles have died of the plague." + +"Well, St. Giles' is far enough away from us," said the Master +Builder. "If the Magistrates do their duty, there is no fear that +it will spread our way. There were deaths over yonder of the plague +last November, and it seems as though they had not yet stamped out +the germs of it. But a little firmness and sense will do that. We +have nothing to fear. So long as the cases are duly reported, we +shall soon be rid of the pest." + +Dinah pressed her lips rather closely together. She had that fine +resolute cast of countenance which often characterizes those who +are constantly to be found at the bedside of the sick. Her dress +was very plain, and she wore a neckerchief of soft, white Indian +muslin about her throat, instead of the starched yellow one which +was almost universal amongst the women citizens of the day. Her +hands were large and white and capable looking. Her only ornament +was a chatelaine of many chains, to which were suspended the +multifarious articles which a nurse has in constant requisition. In +figure she was tall and stately, and in the street strangers often +paused to give her a backward glance. She was greatly in request +amongst the sick of the better class, though she was often to be +found beside the sick poor, who could give her nothing but thanks +for her skilled tendance of them. + +"Ay, truly, so long as the cases are duly reported," she repeated +slowly. "But do you think, sir, that that is ever done where means +may be found to avoid it?" + +The Master Builder looked a little startled at the question. + +"Surely all good folks would wish to do what was right by their +neighbours. They would not harbour a case of plague, and not make +it known in the right quarter." + +"You think not, perhaps. Had you seen as much of the sick as I +have, you would know that men so fear and dread the distemper, as +they most often call it, that they will blind their eyes to it to +the very last, and do everything in their power to make it out as +something other than what they fear. I have seen enough of the ways +of folks with sickness to be very sure that all who have friends to +protect the fearful secret, will do so if it be possible. It is +when a poor stranger dies of a sudden that it becomes known that +the plague has found another victim. Why are there double the +number of deaths in this week's bill, if more than are set down as +such be not the distemper?" + +All the faces in the room looked very grave at that, for in truth +it was a most disquieting thought. The sailor came a few steps +nearer the fire, and remarked: + +"It has all come from those hounds of Dutchmen! Right glad am I +that we are to go to war with them at last, whether the cause be +righteous or not. They have gotten the plague all over their land. +I saw men drop down in the streets and die of it when I was last in +port there. They send it to us in their merchandise." + +"My wife will die of terror if she hears but a whisper of the +distemper being anigh us," remarked the Master Builder, with a sigh +and a look of uneasiness. "But men are always scaring us with tales +of its coming and, after all, there is but a death here and one +there, such as any great city may look to have." + +At that moment the door was thrown open, and a pretty young damsel, +wearing a crimson cloak and hood, stepped lightly in. + +"O father, mother, do but come and look!" she cried, with the air +of coaxing assurance which bespoke a favoured child. "Such a +strange star in the sky! Men in the streets are all looking and +pointing; and some say that it is no star, but a comet, and that it +predicts some dreadful thing which is coming upon this land. Do +come and look at it! There is a clear sky tonight, and one can see +it well. And I heard that it has been seen by some before this, +when at night the rain clouds have been swept away by the wind. Do +come to the window above the river and look! One can see it fine +from there." + +This sudden announcement, falling just upon the talk of pestilence +and peril, caused a certain flutter and sensation through the room. +All the persons there rose to their feet and followed the +rosy-cheeked maiden out upon the staircase, and to a window from +which the great river could be seen flowing beneath. A large +expanse of sky could also be commanded from here, and as the inside +of the house was almost dark, it was easy to obtain an excellent +view of the strange appearance which was attracting so much +attention in the streets. + +It certainly was no star that was glowing thus with a red and +sullen-looking flame. Neither shape nor position in the heavens +accorded with that of any star of magnitude. + +"It was certainly," so said Reuben Harmer, who had some knowledge +of the heavenly bodies, "no star, but one of those travelling +meteors or comets which are seen from time to time, and which from +remote ages have been declared to foretell calamity to the lands +over which they appear to travel." + +The Harmer family were godly people of somewhat Puritanic leaning, +yet they were by no means entirely free from the superstition of +their times, nor would Rachel have called it superstition to regard +this manifestation as a warning from God. Why should He not send +some such messenger before He proceeded to take vengeance upon an +ungodly city? Was not even guilty Sodom warned of its approaching +doom? + +All faces then were grave, but that of the Master Builder wore a +look of fear as well. + +"I must to my wife," he said. "If she sees this comet, she will be +vastly put about. I must to her side to reassure her. Pray Heaven +that no calamity be near to us!" + +"Amen!" replied Harmer, gravely; and then the Master Builder +retreated down the staircase, whilst from a room below a cheerful +voice was heard announcing that supper was ready. + +The party therefore all moved downstairs towards the kitchen, where +all the meals were taken in company with the apprentices, shopmen, +and serving wenches. + +Dorcas, the maiden who had brought news of the comet, slipped her. +hand within Reuben's arm, and asked him in a whisper: + +"Thinkest thou, Reuben, that it betides evil to the city?" + +"Nay, I know not what to think," he answered. "It is a strange +thing, and men often say it betides ill; but I have no knowledge of +mine own. I never saw the like before." + +"They spoke of it at my Lady Scrope's today," said Dorcas. "I was +behind her chair, with her fan and essence bottles, and the lap +dogs, when in comes one and another of the old beaux who beguile +their leisure with my lady's sharp speeches; and they spoke of this +thing, and she laughed them to scorn, and called them fools for +listening to old wives' fables. It is her way thus to revile all +who come anigh her. She said she had lived through a score of such +scares, and would snap her fingers at all the comets of the heavens +at once. Sometimes it makes me tremble to hear her talk; but +methinks she loveth to raise a shudder in the hearts of those who +hear her. She is a strange being. Sometimes I almost fear to go to +and fro there, albeit she treats me well, and seldom speaks harshly +to me. But men say she is above a hundred years old, and she leads +so strange a life in her lonely house. Fancy being there alone of a +night, with only that deaf old man and his aged wife within doors! +It would scare me to death. But she will not let one other of her +servants abide there with her!" + +"Ay, it is her whimsie. Women folks are given to such," answered +Reuben, tolerantly. "She is a strange creature, albeit I doubt not +that men make her out stranger than she is. Well, well, the comet +at least will do us no hurt of itself; and if it be God's way of +warning us of peril to come, we need not fear it, but only set +ourselves to be ready for what He may send us." + +Below stairs there was a comfortable meal spread upon the table, +simple and homely, but sufficient for the appetites of all. The +three rosy-faced apprentices, of whom a son of the house made one, +formed a link at table between the family and the shopmen and +serving wenches. All sat down together, and Rebecca, the daughter +who lived at home, served up the hot broth and puddings. The eldest +daughter was a serving maid in the household of my Lady Howe, and +was seldom able to get home for more than a few hours occasionally, +even when that fashionable dame was in London. Dorcas spent each +night under the shelter of her father's roof, and went daily to the +quaint old house close beside Allhallowes the Less, where lived the +eccentric Lady Scrope, her mistress, of whom mention has been made. +The youngest son was also from home, being apprenticed to a +carpenter in the service of the Master Builder next door, and he +lived, as was usual, in the house of his employer. Thus four out of +Harmer's seven children lived always at home, and Dan the sailor +was with them whenever his ship put into the river after a voyage. + +No talk of either comet or plague was permitted at table; indeed +the meal was generally eaten in something approaching to silence. +Sometimes the master of the house would address a question to one +of the family, or suppress by a glance the giggling of the lads at +the lower end of the table. Joseph's presence there rather +encouraged hilarity, for he was a merry urchin, and stood not in +the same awe of his father as did his comrades. Kindness was the +law of the house, but it was the kindness of thorough discipline. +Neither the master nor the mistress believed in the liberty that +brings licence in its train. + +Life went very quietly, smoothly, and monotonously within the walls +of that busy house. Trade was brisk just now. The fashion lately +introduced amongst fine ladies of having whole dresses of gold or +silver lace, brought more orders for the lace maker than he well +knew how to accomplish in the time. He and his son and his +apprentices were hard at work from morning to night; and glad +enough was the master of the daily-increasing daylight, which +enabled him and those who were glad to earn larger wages to work +extra hours each day. + +Being thus busy at home, he went less than was his wont abroad, and +heard but little either of the sullen comet which hung night after +night in the sky, or of the whispers sometimes circulating in the +city of fresh cases of the distemper. + +These last, however, were growing fewer. The scare of a few weeks +back seemed to be dying down. People said the pest had been stamped +out, and the brighter, hotter weather cheered the hearts of men, +albeit in case of sickness it might be their worst enemy, as some +amongst them well knew. + +"I never believed a word of it!" said the wife of the Master +Builder, as she sat in her fine drawing room and fanned herself +with a great fan made of peacock's feathers. She was very +handsomely dressed, far muore like a fine Court dame than the wife +of a simple citizen. Her comnpanion was a very pretty girl of about +nineteen, whose abundant chestnut hair was dressed after a +fashionable mode, although she refused to have it frizzed over her +head as her mother's was, and would have preferred to dress it +quite simply. She wished she might have plain clothes suitable to +her station, instead of being tricked out as though she were a fine +lady. But her mother ruled her with a rod of iron, and girls in +those days had not thought of rising in rebellion. + +The Master Builder's wife considered that she had gentle blood in +her veins, as her grandfather had been a country squire who was +ruined in the civil war, so that his family sank into poverty. Of +late she had done all in her power to get her neighbours to accord +her the title of Madam Mason, which she extorted from her servants, +and which was given to her pretty generally now, although as much +in mockery, it must be confessed, as in respect of her finery. She +did not look a very happy woman, in spite of all the grandeur about +her. She had frightened away her simpler neighbours by her airs of +condescension and by the splendour of her house, and yet she could +not yet see any way of inducing other and finer folks to come and +see her. Sometimes her husband brought in a rich patron and his +wife to look at the fine room, and examnine the furniture in it, +and these persons would generally be mighty civil to her whilst +they stayed; but then they did not come to see her, but only in the +way of business. It was agreeable to be able to repeat what my lord +this or my lady that said about the cabinets and chairs; but after +all she was half afraid that her boasting deceived nobody, and +Gertrude would never come to her aid with any little innocent fibs +about their grand visitors. + +"I never did believe a word of it," repeated Madam, after a pause. +"Gertrude, why do you not answer when I speak to you? You are as +dull as a Dutch doll, sitting there and saying nothing. I would +that Frederick were at home! He can speak when he is spoken to; but +you are like a deaf mute!" + +"I beg your pardon, ma'am. I was reading--I did not hear." + +"That is always the way--reading, reading, reading! Why, what good +do you think reading will do you? Why don't you get your silk +embroidery or practise upon the spinnet? Such advantages as you +have! And all thrown away on a girl who does not know when she is +well off. I have no manner of patience with you, Gertrude. If I had +had such opportunities in my girlhood, I should never have been a +mere citizen's wife now." + +A slightly mutinous look passed across Gertrude's face. Submissive +in word and manner, as was the rule of the day, she was by no means +submissive in mind, and had her mother's ears been sharper she +might have detected the undertone of irony in the reply she +received. + +"I think nobody would take you for a citizen's wife, ma'am. As for +me, I am not made to shine in a higher sphere than mine own. I have +not even the patience to learn the spinnet. I would sooner be +baking pies with Rebecca next door, as we used to do when we were +children, before father grew so rich." + +Madam's face clouded ominously. She heartily wished she had never +admitted her children to intimacy with the Harmers next door. It +had done no harm in the case of Frederick. He was his mother's son, +every inch of him, and was as ready to turn up a supercilious nose +at his old comrades as ever Madam could wish. + +But Gertrude was different--she was excessively provoking at times. +She did not seem able to understand that if one intended to rise in +the world, one must cut through a number of old ties, and start +upon a fresh track. It was not easy in those times to rise; but +still the wealthier citizens did occasionally make a position for +themselves, and get amongst the hangers-on of the Court party, +especially if they were open handed with their money. + +Madam often declared that if they only moved into another part of +the town, everything she wanted could be attained; but on that +point her husband was inexorable. He loved the old bridge house. +There he had been born, and there he meant to die, and he had not +the smnallest intention of removing elsewhere to please even the +wife to whom he granted so many indulgences. + +"You are a fool!" cried Madam, angrily; "you say those things only +to provoke me. I wish you had some right feeling and some +conversation. You are as dull as ditch water. You care for nothing. +I don't believe it would rouse you to hear that the plague was in +the next street!" + +"Well, we shall see," answered Gertrude, with a calmness that was +at least a little provoking, "for people say it is spreading very +fast, and may soon be here." + +"What!" cried Madam, in a sudden panic; "who says that? What do you +mean, girl?" + +"It was Reuben who told me," answered Gertrude, with a little blush +which she tried to conceal by turning her face towards the window. + +But her ruse was in vain. Madam's hawk eye had caught the rising +colour, and her brow contracted sharply. + +"Reuben! what Reuben? Have I not told you a hundred times that I +would have none of that sort of talk any more? Reuben, indeed! as +though you were boy and girl together! Pray tell me this, you +forward minx, does he dare to address you as Gertrude when he has +the insolence to speak to you in the streets, where alone I presume +he can do so?" + +Gertrude's face was burning with indignation. She had to clasp her +hands tightly together to restrain the hot words which rose to her +lips. + +"We have been children together--and friends," she said, "the +Harmers and I. How should we forget that so quickly--even though +you have forgotten! My father does not mind." + +Madam's face was as red as her daughter's. She was about to make +some violent retort, when the sound of a footstep on the stairs +checked the words upon her lips. + +"There is Frederick!" she said. + + + +CHAPTER II. LONDON'S YOUNG CITIZENS. + + +The door of the room where mother and daughter sat was flung wide +open with scant ceremony, and to the accompaniment of a boisterous +laugh. Into the room swaggered a tall, fine-looking young man of +some three-and-twenty summers, dressed in all the extravagance of a +lavish and extravagant age. Upon his head he wore an immense peruke +of ringlets, such as had been introduced at Court the previous +year, and which was almost universal now with the nobles and +gentry, but by no means so amongst the citizens. The periwig was +surmounted by a high-crowned hat adorned with feathers and ribbons, +and ribbons floated from his person in such abundance that to +unaccustomed eyes the effect was little short of grotesque. Even +the absurd high-heeled shoes were tied with immense bows of ribbon, +whilst knees, wrists, throat, and even elbows displayed their bows +and streamers. The young dandy wore the full "petticoat breeches" +of the period, with a short doublet, a jaunty cloak hung from the +shoulders, and an abundance of costly lace ruffles adorned the neck +and wrists of the doublet, he wore at his side a short rapier, and +had a trick of laying his hand upon the hilt, as though it would +take very little provocation to make him draw it forth upon an +adversary. + +His step was not altogether so steady as it might have been, as he +swaggered into his mother's presence. His handsome face was deeply +flushed. He was laughing boisterously; but there was that in his +aspect which made his sister turn away with a look of repulsion, +though his mother's glance rested on him with a look of admiring +pride that savoured of adoration. In her fond and foolish eyes he +was perfection, and the more he copied the vices and the follies of +the gallants about the person of the King, the prouder did his vain +and weak mother become of him. + +"Ho! ho! ho! such a bit of fun!" + +It is impossible to give Frederick Mason's words verbatim, as he +seldom opened his lips without an oath, and inter-larded his talk +with coarse jests in English and fragments of ribaldry in vile +French, till it would scarce be intelligible to the reader of +today. + +"Such a prime bit of fun! Who would have thought that little Dorcas +next door would grow up such a marvelous pretty damsel! By my +troth, what a slap she did give me in return for my kiss!" + +Gertrude suddenly turned upon her brother with flashing eyes. + +"Think shame of yourself, Frederick! You disgrace your boasted +manhood. How dare you annoy with your coarse gallantry the daughter +of our father's oldest friend, and that too in the open streets!" + +"How dare you speak so to your brother, girl?" cried Madam, +bristling up like an angry mother hen. "What call have you to chide +him? Is he answerable to you for his acts?" + +Gertrude subsided into silence, for she could not answer back as +she would have liked. It was not for her to argue with her mother; +and Madam, having vanquished her daughter, turned upon her son. + +"You must have a care how you vex our neighbours, for your father +would take it ill an he heard of it. Nay, I would not myself that +you mixed yourself up too much with them. They are honest good +folks enow, but scarce such as are fitting company for us. What of +this girl Dorcas? Is not she the one who is waiting maid to that +mad old witch woman in Allhallowes, Lady Scrope?" + +"That may well be. I saw her come forth from a grim portal hard by +Allhallowes the Less. I knew not who it was, but I gave chase, and +ere she put her foot upon the bridge, I had plucked the hood from +off her pretty curls, and had kissed her soundly on both cheeks. +And at that she gave me such a cuff as I feel yet, and ran like a +fawn, and I after her, till she vanished within the door of our +neighbour's house; and then it came to me that it was Dorcas, grown +wondrous pretty since I last took note of her. If she comes always +home at this hour, I'll waylay my lady again and take toll of her." + +"You had better be careful not to let Reuben get wind of it" said +Gertrude, with suppressed anger in her voice. "If he were to catch +you insulting his sister, it is more than a slap or a cuff you +would get." + +Frederick burst into a boisterous laugh. + +"What! do you think a dirty shopman would dare lay hands upon me? +I'd run him through the body as soon as look at him. He'd better +keep out of reach of my sword arm. You can tell him so, fair +sister, if you have a tendresse for the young counter jumper." + +Gertrude's sensitive colour flew up, and her brother laughed loud +and long, pointing his finger at her, and adding one coarse jest to +another; but the mother interposed rather hastily, being uneasy at +the turn the talk was taking. + +"Hist, children, no more of this! + +"I would not that this tale came to your father's ears, Frederick; +it were better to have a care where our neighbours are concerned. +Let the wench alone. There are many prettier damsels than she, who +will not rebuff you in such fashion." + +"Ay, verily, but that is the spice of it all. When the wench gives +you kiss for kiss, it is sweet, but flavourless. A box on the ear, +and a merry chase through the streets afterwards, is a game more to +my liking. I'll see the little witch again and be even with her, or +my name's not Frederick Mason the Scourer!" + +"Your father will like it ill if it comes to his ears," remarked +Madam, with a touch of uneasiness; "and for my part, the less we +have to do with our neighbours the better. They are no fit +associates for us." + +"Say that we are no fit associates for them," murmured Gertrude, +beneath her breath. + +Her heart was swelling with sorrow and anger. In her eyes there was +no young man in all London town to be compared with Reuben Harmer. +From the day when in childhood they had playfully plighted their +troth, she had never ceased to regard him as the one man in the +world most worthy of love and reverence, and she knew that he had +never ceased to look upon her with the same feelings. + +Latterly they had had but scant opportunities of meeting. Madam +threw every possible obstacle in the way of her daughter's entering +the doors of that house, and kept her own closed against those of +her former friends whom she now chose to regard as her inferiors. +Madam had never been liked. She had always held her head high, and +shown that she thought herself too good for the place she occupied. +Her house had never been popular. No neighbours had ever been in +the habit of running in and out to exchange bits of news with her, +or ask for the loan of some recipe or household convenience. It had +not been difficult to seclude herself in her gradually increasing +dignities, and only her daughter had keenly felt the difference +when she had intimated that she wished the intimacy between her +family and that of the Harmers to cease. + +Frederick had long since taken to himself other associates of a +more congenial kind. The Master Builder went to and fro as before, +permitting his wife full indulgence of her fads and fancies, but +resolved to exercise his own individual liberty, and quite +unconscious of the blow that was being inflicted upon his daughter, +who was naturally tied by her mother's commands, and forced to +abide by her regulations. + +Madam had been quick to see that if she did not take care Reuben +Harmer would shortly aspire to the hand of her daughter, and she +was not sure but that her husband would be weak enough to let the +foolish girl please herself in the matter, and throw away what +chance she had of marrying out of the city, and rising a step in +life. + +Madam pinned her main hopes of a social rise for herself in the +marriages of her children. She fondly believed that Frederick, with +his good looks and his wealth, could take his pick even amongst +high-born ladies, and not all the good-natured ridicule of her +husband served to weaken this conviction. She was not a great +admirer of her daughter's charms, but she knew that the girl was +admired, and had been noticed more than once by the fine ladies who +had come to look at her furniture and hangings. She had a plan of +her own for getting Gertrude into the train of some fine Court +dame, and once secured in such a position, her fair face and ample +dowry might do the rest. If her son and daughter were well married, +she would have two houses where she could make a home for herself +more to her liking. No end of ambitious dreams were constantly +floating in her shallow brain, and as all these were more or less +bound up with the future of her son and daughter, it was natural +that she should desire to put down with a strong hand the smallest +indication of a love affair between Gertrude and Reuben. She had +even persuaded her husband that Gertrude ought to make a good +marriage; and as he was able to give her an ample dowry, and was +proud of her good looks, he himself was of opinion that she might +do something rather brilliant, even if she did not realize her +mother's fond dreams. + +All this was very well known to poor Gertrude by this time, and it +was seldom now that she did more than catch a passing glimpse of +Reuben, or exchange a few hasty words with him in the street. The +young man was proud, and knew that he was looked down upon by the +Master Builder and his wife. This made him very reticent of showing +his feelings, and reduced Gertrude often to the lowest ebb of +depression. + +So the coarse jests of her brother were a keen pain to her, and she +presently rose and left the room in great resentment, followed by a +mocking laugh from the ill-conditioned young man. + +Having lost one victim, that amiable youth next turned his +attention to his mother, and began to torment her with the same +zest as he had displayed in the baiting of his sister. + +"All the town is talking of the plague," he remarked, in would-be +solemn tones. "They say that in St. Giles' and St. Andrew's +parishes they are burying them by the dozen every day;" and as his +mother uttered a little scream, and shrank away even from him, he +went on in the same tone, "All the fine folks from that end of the +town are thinking of moving into the country. The witches and +wizards are declaring openly in the streets that the whole city is +to be destroyed. Some folks say that soon the Lord Mayor and the +Magistrates will have all the infected houses shut up straitly, so +that none may go in or come forth when it is known that the +distemper has appeared there. The door will be marked with a red +cross, and the words 'Lord, have mercy upon us!' writ large above +it. So, good mother, when I come home one day with the marks of the +distemper upon me, the whole house will be closed, and none will be +able to go forth to escape it. So we shall all perish together, as +a loving family should do." + +The blasphemies and ribald jokes with which this good-for-nothing +young man adorned his speech made it sound tenfold more hideous +than I can do. Even his mother shrank away from him, in terror and +amaze at his levity, and cried aloud in her fear so that instantly +the door opened, and her husband entered to know what was amiss. + +Frederick looked a little uneasy then, for he still held his father +in a wholesome awe; but the mother made no complaint of her son, +but only said she had been affrighted by hearing that there were +more deaths from the plague than she had thought would ever be the +case after all the care the Magistrates had taken, and was it true +that the Lord Mayor had spoken of shutting up the houses, and so +causing the sound ones to become diseased and to perish with the +stricken ones? + +The Master Builder answered gravely enough; for he had himself but +just come in from hearing that the weekly Bills of Mortality were +terribly high, and that the deaths in certain of the western +parishes had been beyond all reckoning since the last years when +the plague had visited the city. True, there were not many put down +as having died of the plague; but it was known how much was done to +get other diseases set down in the bills, so that there was not +much comfort to be got out of that. + +The Master Builder thought that the houses would not be shut up +unless things became much worse. The matter had been spoken of, as +he himself had heard; but the people were much against it, and it +would be a measure most difficult to enforce, and would tend to +make men conceal from the authorities any case of distemper which +appeared amongst them. But he said it was true enough that persons +of high degree were beginning to move into the country, at least +from the western part of the town; but that all felt very sure the +distemper would speedily be checked, and would not come within the +city walls at all, nor extend eastward beyond its boundaries. + +Madam breathed a little more freely on hearing this, but made an +eager suggestion to her husband that they should go away if the +distemper began to spread. + +But the Master Builder shook his head impatiently. + +"A fine thing to run away from a chance ill, and court a certain +ruin! How do you think business will thrive if all the men run away +from their shops like affrighted sheep? No, no; it is often safest +to stay at home with closed doors than to run helter skelter to +strange places where one knows not who may have been last. Keep +indoors with your perfumes and spices, and keep the wench close +with you. That is the best way of outwitting the enemy. Besides, it +has come nowhere near us yet." + +Madam had certainly no mind to be ruined, nor was she one who loved +change or the discomforts of travel. So she thought on the whole +her husband's advice was good. It would be much more comfortable to +stay here with closed doors, surrounded by the luxuries of home. + +Now as Frederick sat with outstretched legs in one of the easiest +chairs in the room, and heard his father speak of these things, a +thought came into his head which tickled his fancy so vastly that +throughout the evening he kept bursting into smothered laughter, so +much so that his sister threw him many suspicious glances, and +divined that he had some evil purpose in his head. + +The May light lasted long in the sky; but as it failed Frederick +went out, as was his wont, and for many hours he spent his time +with a number of kindred spirits in a neighbouring tavern, quaffing +large potations, and dicing and gaming after the fashion of the +Court gallants. + +The bulk of the young roisterers thus assembled belonged to one of +those bands of Scourers of which Frederick claimed to be the head. +They were the worthy successors to the "Roaring Boys" or +Bonaventors of past centuries, and their favourite pastime was, +after spending the night in revelry and play, to start forth +towards dawn and scour the streets, upsetting the baskets or carts +of the early market folks bringing their wares into the town, +scattering the merchandise in the gutter, kissing the women, +cuffing the men, wrenching off knockers from house doors, and +getting up fights with the watch or with some rival band of +Scourers which resulted in broken heads and sometimes in actual +bloodshed. + +The Magistrates treated these misdemeanours with wonderful +tolerance when the culprits were from time to time brought before +them, and the nuisance went on practically unchecked--the people +being used to wild and dissolute ways and much brawling--and +looking on it as one of the necessary ills of life. + +But upon this bright May morning, before the streets began to +awaken, even before the market folks were astir, Frederick led +forth his band intent upon a new sort of mischief. Some of the +number carried pots of red paint in their hands, and others pots of +white paint. + +Up and down the empty streets paraded these worthies, pausing here +and there at the door of some citizen that presented a tempting +surface. One of their number would paint upon it the ominous red +cross, whilst another who had skill enough (for writing was not the +accomplishment of every citizen even then) would add in staring +white letters the legend, "Lord, have mercy upon us!" + +It was a brutal jest at such a time, when the dread visitor had +actually appeared as it were in their midst, and all sober men were +in fear of what might betide, and of the methods already spoken of +for the suppression of the distemper. But it was its very +wickedness which gave it its charm in the opinion of the +perpetrators, and as they went from street to street, Frederick +suddenly exclaimed: + +"Ha! we are close to Allhallowes. Let us adorn the door of the old +madwoman, Lady Scrope. They say she lives quite alone, and that her +servants come in the morning and leave at night. Sure they will +none of them have courage to pass the threshold when that sign +adorns it, and the old hag will have to come forth herself to seek +them. An excellent joke! I will watch the house, and give her a +kiss as she comes forth." + +Whereupon the whole crew burst into shouts of drunken laughter, and +made a rush to the door, which stood flush in a grim-looking wall +just beneath the shadow of the church of Allhallowes the Less. + +Frederick had the paint pot in his hand, and he traced a fine red +cross upon the door, all the while making his ribald jests upon the +old woman within, he and his companions alike, far too drunk with +wine and unholy mirth to have eyes or ears for what was happening +close beside them. They did not hear the sound of an opening window +just above them. They did not see a nightcapped head poked forth, +the great frilled cap surrounding a small, wizened, but +keenly-courageous face, in which the eyes were glittering like +points of fire. + +None of them saw this. None of them heeded, and the head was for a +moment silently withdrawn. Then it was again cautiously protruded, +and the next minute there descended on the head of Frederick a +black hot mass of tar and bitumen. It scalded his face, it blinded +his eyes. It choked and almost poisoned him by its vaporous +pungency. It matted itself in his voluminous periwig, and plastered +it down to his shoulders; it clotted his lace frills, and ran in +filthy rivulets down his smart clothes. In a word, it rendered him +in a moment a disgusting and helpless object, unable to see or +hear, almost unable to breathe, and quite unable to rid himself of +the sticky, loathsome mass in which he had suddenly become encased. + +Then from the window above came a shrill, jeering cry: + +"To your task, bold Scourers--to your task! Scour your own fine +friend and comrade. Scour him well, for he will need it. Scour him +from head to foot. A pest upon you, young villains! I would every +citizen in London would serve you the same!" + +Then the window above was banged to. The mob of roisterers fled +helter skelter, laughing and jeering. Not one amongst them offered +to assist their wretched leader. They left him alone in his sorry +plight to get out of it as best he might. They had not the smallest +consideration for one even of their own number overtaken by +misfortune. Roaring with laughter at the frightful picture he +presented, they dispersed to their own homes, and the wretched +Frederick was left alone in the street to do the best he could with +his black, unsavoury plaster. + +He strove in vain to clear his vision, and to remove the peruke, +which clung to him like a second skin. He was in a horrible fright +lest he should be seen and recognized in this ignominious plight; +and although he felt sure his comrades would spread the story of +his discomfiture all over the town, he did not wish to be seen by +the watch, or by any law-abiding citizens who knew him. + +But how to get home was a puzzle, blind and half suffocated as he +was; and he scarce knew whether anger or relief came uppermost to +his mind when he felt his arm taken, and a voice that he knew said +in his ear: + +"For shame, Frederick! It is a disgrace to London the way you and +your comrades go on. And now of all times to jest when the foe is +at our doors. Shame upon you! The old dame has given you no more +than your due. But come with me, and I will get you home ere the +town be awake; and have a care how you offend again like this, for +the Magistrates will not suffer jests of such a kind at such a +time. Know you not that it is almost enough to frighten a timid +serving wench into the distemper to see such signs upon the doors? +And if it break out in the midst of us, who can say where it will +end?" + +It was Reuben Harmer who spoke, as Frederick very well knew. The +young men had been boys together, and as Reuben was two years the +elder, he assumed a tone in speaking which Frederick now keenly +resented. But it was no time to repel an overture of help, and he +sullenly forced himself to accept Reuben's good offices. The great +clotted periwig was with some difficulty got off, and then it was +possible to remove the worst of the tar from face and eyes. +Frederick at last could see clearly and breathe freely, but +presented so lamentable an object that he only longed to get safe +home to the shelter of his father's house. + +The costly periwig of curls had perforce to be left in the gutter, +hopelessly ruined, and Frederick, who had given more money for it +than he could well afford, shook his fist at the house which +contained the redoubtable old woman who had thus fooled and bested +him. + +"You Scourers will find that you can play your meddlesome games too +often," remarked Reuben sternly, his eyes upon the red cross and +the half-completed words above. "I would that all the city were of +the same spirit as Lady Scrope. She always keeps a quantity of hot +pitch or tar beside her bed, with a lamp burning beneath it, in +case of attacks from robbers. You may thank your stars that it +descended not boiling hot upon your head. Had she been so minded to +punish you, she would have done so fearlessly. You may be thankful +it was no worse." + +Frederick sullenly picked up his hat, which he had laid aside while +painting the door, and which had thus escaped injury, pulled it as +far over his face as it would go, and turned abruptly away from +Reuben. + +"I'll be revenged on the old hag yet!" he muttered between his +teeth. "I've got a double debt to pay to this house now. I'll not +forget it either." + +He turned abruptly away and scuttled home by the narrowest alleys +he could find, whilst Reuben went about looking for the red +crosses, and giving timely notice to the master of the house, that +they might be erased, as quietly and quickly as possible. + +Accident had led Reuben early abroad that day, but he made use of +his time to undo as far as he was able the mischievous jesting of +Frederick's band of Scourers. + + + +CHAPTER III. DRAWING NEARER. + + +"Brother Reuben, I cannot think what can be the reason, but my Lady +Scrope has bidden me beg of thee to give her speech upon the +morrow. All this day she has been in a mighty pleasant humour: she +gave me this silken neckerchief when I left today, and bid me bring +my brother with me on the morrow--and she means thee, Reuben." + +"What can be the meaning of that?" asked Rachel Harmer, with a look +of curiosity. "Doth she often speak to thee of thy kindred, child?" + +"If the whim be on her, and she has naught else to amuse her, she +will bid me tell of the life at home, and of our neighbours and +friends," answered Dorcas. "But never has she spoke as she did +today. Nor can I guess why she would have speech with Reuben." + +"I can guess shrewdly at that," said the young man. "It so befell +this morning that I found a party of roisterers at her door, who were +marking it with a red cross, as though it were a plague-stricken +house--as the Magistrates talk of marking them now if the distemper +spreads much further and wider. The bold lady had herself put these +fellows to the rout by pouring pitch upon them from a window above; +but I stopped to rebuke the foremost of them myself, and to erase +their handiwork from the door. I did not know that I was either seen +or known; but methinks my Lady Scrope has eyes in the back of her +head, as the saying goes." + +"You may well say that!" cried Dorcas, with a laugh and a shrug. +"Never was there such a woman for knowing everything and everybody. +But she spoke not to me of any roisterers. Would I had been there +to see her pouring her filthy compound over them! She always has it +ready. How she must have rejoiced to find a use for it at last!" + +"It is an evil and a scurvy jest at such a time to mock at the +peril which is at our very doors, and which naught but the mercy of +God can avert from us," said the master of the house, very gravely. + +Then, looking round upon his assembled household, he added in the +same very serious way, "I have been this day into the heart of the +city. I have spoken with many of the authorities there. The Lord +Mayor and the Magistrates are in great anxiety, and I fear me there +can be no longer any doubt that the distemper is spreading +fearfully. It has not yet appeared within the city nor upon the +other side of the river; but in the western parishes it is +spreading every way, and they say that all who are able are fleeing +away from their houses. Perchance for those who can do so this may +be the safest thing to do. But soon they will not be permitted to +leave, unless they have a bill of health from the Lord Mayor, as in +the country beyond the honest folks are taking alarm, and are +crying out that we are like to spread the plague all over the +kingdom." + +"I, too, have heard sad tales of the mortality," said Dinah, +raising her calm voice and speaking very seriously. "I met a good +physician, under whom I often laboured amongst the sick, and he +tells me that there be poor stricken wretches from whom all the +world flee in terror the moment it appears they have the distemper +upon them. Many have died already untended and uncared for, whilst +others have in the madness of the fever and pain burst out of the +rooms in which they have been shut up, and have run up and down the +streets, spreading terror in their path, till they have dropped +down dead or dying, to be carried to graveyard or pest house as the +case may be. But who can tell how many other victims such a +miserable creature may not have infected first?" + +"Ay, that is the terror of it," said Harmer. "All are saying that +nurses must be found to care for the sick, and many are very +resolved that the houses where the distemper is found should be +straitly shut up and guarded by watchmen, that none go forth. It is +a hard thing for the whole to be thus shut in with the infected; +but as men truly say, how shall the whole city escape if something +be not done to restrain the people from passing to and fro, and +spreading the distemper everywhere?" + +"I have thought," said Dinah, very quietly, "that it may be given +to me to offer myself as a nurse for these poor persons. I have +passed unscathed through many perils before now. Once I verily +believe I was with one who died even of this distemper, albeit the +physician called it the spotted fever, which frights men less than +the name of plague. There be many herbs and simples and decoctions +which men say are of great value in keeping the infection at bay. +And even were it not so, we must not be thinking only at such times +of saving our own lives. There be some that must be ready to risk +even life, if they may serve their brethren. The good physicians +are prepared to do this, to say nothing of the Magistrates and +those who have the management of this great city at such a time. +And it seems to me that women must always be ready to tend the sick +even in times of peril. I seem to hear a call that bids me offer +myself for this work; but none else shall suffer through me. If I +go, I return hither no more. I shall live amongst the sick until +this judgment be overpast, or until I myself be called hence, as +may well be." + +All faces were grave and full of awe. Yet perhaps none who knew +Dinah were overmuch surprised at her words. Her life had been lived +amongst the sick for many years. She had never shrunk from danger, +or had spared herself when the need was pressing. Her sister +Rachel, although the tears stood in her eyes, said nothing to +dissuade her. + +Nor indeed was there much time for discussion then, for the Master +Builder looked in at that moment with a face full of concern. He +brought the news that fresh revelations were being hourly made as +to the terrible rapidity with which the plague was spreading in the +parishes without the walls; and he added that even the gay and +giddy Court had been at last alarmed, and that the King had been +heard to say he should quit Whitehall and retire with his Court and +his minions to Oxford in the course of a week or a fortnight, +unless matters became speedily much better. + +"Ay, that is ever the way," said Harmer, sternly. "The reckless +monarch and his licentious Court draw down upon the city the wrath +of God in judgment of their wickedness, and those who have provoked +the judgment flee from the peril, leaving the poor of the city to +perish like sheep." + +"Well, well, well; fine folks like change, and it is easy for them +to go elsewhere. I would do the same, perchance, were I so placed," +said the Master Builder; "but we men of business must stick to our +work as long as it sticks to us. + +"What about your mistress, Lady Scrope, Dorcas? Has she said aught +of leaving London? She is one who could easily fly. Not but what I +trust the distemper will be kept well out of the city by the care +taken." + +"She has spoken no word of any such thing," answered Dorcas. "She +reads and hears all that is spoken about the plague, and makes my +blood run cold by the stories she tells of it in other lands, and +during other outbreaks which she can remember. Methinks sometimes +the very hair on my head is standing up in the affright her words +bring me. But she only laughs and mocks, and calls me a little +poltroon. I trow that she would never fly; it would not be like +her." + +"Men and women do many things unlike themselves in stress of +particular and deadly peril," said the Master Builder. "Lady Scrope +would do well to consider leaving whilst the city has so good a +bill of health; it may be less easy by-and-by, should the distemper +spread." + +"Thou canst speak to her of this thing, Reuben, when thou dost see +her on the morrow," observed his father. "Perchance she has not +considered the peril of being detained if she puts off flight too +long." + +Reuben said he would name the matter to the lady; and when Dorcas +set forth upon the morrow for her daily walk, her brother +accompanied her, and told her in confidence what he had not told to +his family--how Frederick Mason had been served by the irate old +lady, and what a sorry spectacle he had presented afterwards. + +Dorcas laughed heartily at the story. She had no love for +Frederick, and she told her brother that she suspected he had been +the half-tipsy gallant who had striven to kiss her in the streets, +and had partially succeeded. This put Reuben into a great wrath, +and he promised whenever he could do so to come and escort his +sister home from the house in Allhallowes. True, the distance was +but very short, yet the lane to the bridge head was lonely and +narrow, and Frederick was known for a most ill-conditioned young +man. + +Lady Scrope received Reuben in a demi-toilet of a peculiar kind, +and a very strange and wizened object did she appear. She thanked +him for the rebuke she had heard him administer to the roisterer, +enjoyed a hearty laugh over his wretched appearance, and then +proceeded to indulge her insatiable taste for gossip by demanding +of him all the city news, and what all the world there was talking +about. + +"Since this plague bogey has got into men's minds I see nobody and +hear nothing," she said. "All the fools be flying the place like so +many silly sheep; or, if they come to sit awhile, their talk is all +of pills and decoctions, refuses and ointments. Bah! they will buy +the drugs of every foolish quack who goes about the streets selling +plague cures, and then fly off the next day, thinking that they +will be the next victim. Bah! the folly of the men! How glad I am +that I am a woman." + +"Still, madam," said Reuben, taking his cue, "there be many noble +ladies who think it well to remove themselves for a time from this +infected city. Not that for the time being the city itself is +infected, and we hope to keep it free--" + +"Then men are worse fools than I take them for," was the sharp +retort. "Keep the plague out of the city! Bah! what nonsense will +they talk next! Is it not written in the very heavens that the city +is to be destroyed? Heed not their idle prognostications. I tell +you, young man, that the plague is already amongst us, even though +men know it not. In a few more weeks half the houses in the very +city itself will be shut up, and grass will be growing in the +streets. We may be thankful if there are enough living to bury the +dead. Keep it out of the city, forsooth! Let them do it if they +can; I know better!" + +Dorcas paled and shrank, fully convinced that her redoubtable +mistress possessed a familiar spirit who revealed to her the things +that were coming; but Reuben fancied that the old lady was but +guessing, and he saw no reason to be afraid at her words. Saying +such things would not bring them to pass. + +"Then, madam," he answered, "if such be the case, would it not be +well to consider whether you do not remove yourself ere these +things comne to pass? Pardon me if I seem to take it upon mnyself +to advise you, but I was charged by my father, who is like to be +appointed for a time one of the examiners of health whom the Mayor +and Magistrates think it well to institute at this time, that soon +it may not be so easy to get away from the city as it is now; +wherefore it behoves the sound whilst they are yet sound to bethink +them whether or not they will take themselves away elsewhere. Also +my mother wished me to ask the question of your ladyship, forasmuch +as she would like to know whether my sister in such case would be +required to accompany you." + +Lady Scrope nodded her head several times, an odd light of mockery +gleaming in her keen black eyes. + +"Tell your worthy father, good youth, that I thank him for his good +counsel; but also tell him that nothing will drive me from this +place--not even though I be the only one left alive in the city. +Here I was born, and here I mean to die; and whether death comes by +the plague or by some other messenger what care I? I tell thee, +lad, I am far safer here than gadding about the country. Here I can +shut myself up at pleasure from all the world. Abroad, I am at the +muercy of any plague-stricken vagabond who comes to ask an alms. +Let all sensible folks stay at home and shut themselves up, and let +the fools go gadding here, there, and all over. As for Dorcas, let +her come and go as long as she safely may; but if your good mother +would keep her at home, then let her abide there, and return to me +when the peril is overpast. I like the wench, and if she likes to +abide altogether with me she may do so. Let her mother choose." + +Dorcas, however, had no wish to live in that lonely house +altogether, and for the present there was no reason why she should +not go backwards and forwards to her father's abode. Her parents +were grateful to Lady Scrope for her offer, but for the present +there was no reason for making any change. + +The weather during these bright days of May had been cool and +fresh, and in spite of all evil auguries, sanguine persons had +tried hard to believe and to make others believe that the peril of +a visitation of the plague had been somewhat overrated. Yet the +choked thoroughfares leading out of London gave the lie to these +suppositions, and for many weeks the bridge was a sight in itself, +crowded with carriages and waggons all filled with the richer folks +and their goods, hastening to the pleasant regions of Surrey to +forget their fears and escape the pestilential atmosphere of the +city. + +Then towards the end of the month a great heat set in, and at once, +as it were, the infection broke out in a hundred different and +unsuspected places, not only without but within the city walls. How +the distemper had so spread none then dared to guess. It seemed +everywhere at once, none knew why or how. Doubtless it was in +innumerable instances the tainted condition of the wells from which +the bulk of the people still drew their water; but men did not +think of these things long ago. They looked each other in the face +in fear and terror, none knowing but that his neighbour in the +street might be carrying about with him the seeds of the dread +distemper. + +It now behoved all careful citizens to bethink them well what they +would do, with the fearful foe knocking as it were at their very +doors, and the matter was brought home right early to the Harmer +household, by a thing that befell them at the very outset of the +access of hot weather which told so fatally upon the city almost +imumediately afterwards. + +Rachel Harmer was awakened from sleep one night by the sound of +something rattling upon the bed-chamber floor, as though it had +fallen from the open casement, and as she came to her waking +senses, she heard a voice without calling in urgent accents: + +"Mother! mother! mother!" + +Rising in some alarm, she went to the window which projected over +the lower stories of the house, as was usual at that time, and on +putting out her head she beheld a female figure standing in the +roadway below. When the moonlight fell upon the upturned face, she +saw it was that of her daughter Janet, who was in the service of +Lady Howe, and was her waiting maid, living in her house not far +from Whitehall, and earning good wages in that gay household. + +In no little alarm at seeing her daughter out alone in the street +at night, she spoke her name and bid her wait at the door till she +could let her in, which she would do immediately; but Janet +instantly replied: + +"Nay, mother, come not to the door; come to the little window at +the corner, where I can speak quietly till I have told you all. +Open not the door till you have heard my lamentable tale. I know +not even now that I am right to come hither at all." + +In great fear and anxiety the mother cast a loose wrapper about +her, and descended quickly to the little storeroom close against +the shop, where there was a tiny window which opened direct upon +the street. At this window, but a few paces away, she found her +daughter awaiting her, and by the light of the rush candle that she +carried she saw that the girl's face was deadly white. + +"Child, child, what ails thee? Come in and tell me all. Thou must +not stand out there. I will open the door and fetch thee in." + +"No, mother, no--not till thou hast heard my tale," pleaded Janet; +"for the sake of the rest thou must be cautious. Mother, I have +been with one who died of the plague at noon today!" + +"Mercy on us, child! How came that about?" + +"It was my fellow servant and bed fellow," answered Janet. "We were +like sisters together, and if ever I ailed aught she tended me as +fondly as thou couldst thyself, mother. Today, when we rose, she +complained of headache and a feeling of illness; but we went down +and took our breakfast below with the rest. At least I took mine as +usual, though she did but toy with her food. Then all of a sudden +she put her hand to her side and turned ghastly white, and fell off +her chair. A scullery wench set up a cry, 'The plague! the plague!' +and forthwith they all fled this way and that--all save me, who +could not leave her thus. I made her swallow some hot cordial which +I think they call alexiteric water, and which is said to be very +beneficial in cases of the distemper; and she was able to crawl +upstairs after a while to her bed once more, where I put her. I +knew not for some hours what was passing in the house, though I +heard a great commotion there, and presently there stole in a +mincing physician who attends my lady, holding a handkerchief +steeped in vinegar to his nose, and smelling like an apothecary's +shop. He looked at poor Patience, who lay in a stupor, heeding +none, and he directed me to uncover her neck for him to see if she +had the tokens upon her. There had been none when I put her to bed +again, so that I had hoped it was but a colic or some such +affection; but, alas, when I looked at his direction, there were +the black swellings plainly to be seen. Forthwith he fled with +indecent haste, and only stopped to say he would send a nurse and +such remedies as should be needful." + +"O my child! and thou wast with her all the time!--thou didst even +touch and handle her?" + +"Mother, I could not leave her alone to die. And hardly had the +doctor gone than the fever came upon her, and it was all I could do +to keep her from rushing out of the room in her pain. But it lasted +only a brief while--for the poison must have gotten a sore hold on +her--and just after noon she fell back in mine arms and died. + +"O mother, I see her face now--so livid and terrible to look upon! +O mother, mother, shall I too look like that when my turn comes to +die?" + +"Hush, hush, my child! God is very merciful. It may be His good +pleasure to spare thee. Thy aunt doth go to and fro amongst the +smitten ones, and she is yet in her wonted health. But ere I call +thy father and ask counsel what we are to do, tell me the rest of +thy tale. Who came to thy relief? and how camest thou hither so +late?" + +"I could not come before. I dared not go forth by day, lest I bore +about the seeds of the distemper. The nurse came at three o'clock, +and finding her patient already dead, wrapped her in a sheet, and +said that a coffin would be sent at dark, and that the bearers +would fetch her for burying when the cart came round, and that when +I heard the bell ring I must call to them from the window and let +them in. I asked why the porter should not do that, but she told me +that already every person in the house had fled. My lady had fallen +into an awful fright on hearing that one of her servants was +smitten, and before any knowledge could have been received of it by +the authorities, she had applied for and obtained a clean bill for +herself and her household, and every one of them had fled. The +house was empty, save for me and the poor dead girl; and I was +bidden to stay till her corpse was removed, for the nurse said she +was wanted in a dozen places at once, and that she had too much to +do with the sick to attend upon the dead." + +"And thou wert willing to wait?" + +"I could not leave her alone. Besides, I feared to walk the streets +till night. The nurse bid me not linger after the body was taken, +for no man knows when the houses will be shut up, so that none can +go forth who have been with an infected person. But it is not so +done yet, and I was free. But I dared not come home amongst you all +to bring, perhaps, death with me. I waited in the house till the +men and the cart came, and they brought a coffin and took poor +Patience away. They told me then that soon there would be no more +coffins, and that they would have to bury without them." + +Janet paused and shuddered strongly. + +"O mother, mother, mother!" she wailed, "what shall I do? What will +become of me? Shall I have to die in the streets, or to go to the +pest house? Oh, why do such terrible things befall us?" + +The mother was weeping now, but the next moment she felt the touch +of her husband's hand upon her shoulder, and his voice said in its +quiet and authoritative way: + +"What means all this coil and to do? Why does the child speak thus? +Tell me all; I must hear the tale. + +"Janet, my girl, never ask the why and the wherefore of any of the +Lord's just judgments. It is for us to bow our heads in repentance +and submission, trusting that He will never try us above what we +are able to bear." + +Comforted by the sound of her father's voice, Janet repeated her +tale to him in much the same words as before, the father listening +in thoughtful silence, without comment or question; till at the +conclusion of the tale he said to his wife: + +"Go upstairs and bring down with thee my heavy riding cloak which +hangs in the press;" and when she had obeyed him, he added, "Now go +up to thy room, and shut thyself in till I call thee thence." + +Implicit obedience to her husband was one of Rachel's +characteristics. Although she longed to know what was to be done, +she asked no questions, but retired upstairs and fell on her knees +in prayer. The master of the house went to a great cask of vinegar +which stood in the corner, and after pretty well saturating the +heavy cloak in that pungent liquid, he unbarred the door, and +beckoning to his daughter to approach, threw about her the heavy +mantle and bid mer follow him. + +He led her through the house and up to a large spare guest chamber, +rather away from the other sleeping chambers of the house, and he +quickly brought to her there a bath and hot water, and certain +herbs specially prepared--wormwood, woodsorrel, angelica, and so +forth. He bid her wash herself all over in the herb bath, wrapping +all her clothing first in the cloak, which she was to put outside +the door. Then she was to go to bed, whilst all her clothing was +burnt by his own hands; and after that she must submit to remain +shut up in that room, seeing nobody but himself, until such time +should have gone by as should prove whether or not she had become +infected by the distemper. + +Janet wept for joy at being thus received beneath her father's +roof, having heard so many fearsome tales of persons being turned +out of doors even by their nearest and dearest, were it but +suspected that they might carry about with them the seeds of the +dreaded distemper. But the worthy lace maker was a godly man, and +brave with the courage that comes of a lively faith. He had learned +all that could be told of the nature of the distemper; and after he +had burnt all his daughter's clothing with his own hands, and had +assured himself that she felt sound and well, and had also +fumigated his own house thoroughly, he felt that he had done all in +his power against the infection, and that the rest must be left in +the hands of Providence. + +The mother hovered anxiously about, but came not near her husband +till permitted by him. She did not enter the room where her +daughter now lay comfortably in a soft bed, but she prepared some +good food for her, which was carried in by the father later on, and +promised her that by the morning she should have clothing to put +on, and that she should have every care and comfort during the days +of her captivity. + +Janet thanked God from the very bottom of her heart that night for +having given to her such good and kindly parents, and earnestly +besought that she might be spared, not only for her own unworthy +sake, but for their sakes who had risked so much rather than that +she should be an outcast from home at such a time of peril and horror. + + + +CHAPTER IV. JAMES HARMER'S RESOLVE. + + +It was with a grave face, yet with a brave and cheerful mien, that +the worthy Harmer met his household upon the following morning. He +had passed the remainder of that strangely interrupted night in +meditation and prayer, and had arrived now at a resolution which he +intended to put into immediate effect. + +His household consisted, it will be remembered, of his own family, +together with apprentices, shopmen, and serving wenches. To all of +these he now addressed himself, told the story which his daughter +had related of the treatment received in the house of the high-born +lady by the poor girl stricken by the pestilence, and how it had +made even his own child almost fear to enter her father's house. + +"My friends," said the master, looking round upon the ring of grave +and eager faces, "these things ought not to be. In times of common +trouble and peril the hearts of men should draw closer together, +and we should remember that God's command to us is to love our +neighbour as ourself. If we were to lie stricken of mortal illness, +should we think it a Christ-like act for all men to flee away from +us? But inasmuch as we ought all of us to take every care not to +run into needless peril, so must we take every right and reasonable +precaution to keep from ourselves and our homes this just but +terrible visitation, which God has doubtless sent for our +admonition and chastisement." + +After this preface, Harmer proceeded to tell his household what he +had himself resolved upon. His two apprentices--other than his own +son Joseph--were sons of a farmer living in Greenwich; and he +purposed that very day to get his sailor son Dan to take them down +the river in a boat, that he might deliver the lads safe and sound +to their parents before further peril threatened, advising them to +keep them at home till the distemper should have abated, and +arranging with them for a regular supply of fresh and untainted +provisions, to be conveyed to his house from week to week by water, +so long as there should be any fear of marketing in the city. He +foresaw that very soon trade would come almost to a standstill. The +scare and the pestilence together were emptying London of all its +wealthier inhabitants. There would be soon no work for either +shopmen or apprentices, and he counselled the former, if they had +homes out of London to go to, to remain no longer in town, but to +take their wages and seek safety and employment elsewhere, until +the calamity should be overpast. He also gave the same liberty to +the serving wenches, one of whom came from Islington and the other +from Rotherhithe. And all of these persons having home and friends, +decided to leave forthwith, to be out of the danger of infection, +and of that still more dreaded danger of being shut up in an +infected house with a plague-stricken person. + +The master gave liberally to each of his servants according to +their past service, and promised that if he should escape the +pestilence, and continue his business in more prosperous times, he +would take them back into his house again. + +For the present, however, it seemed good to him that only his own +family should remain with him. His wife and three daughters could +well manage the house, and he did not desire that any other person +should be imperilled through the course of action he himself +intended to take. + +When he took boat with his apprentices, he offered to Joseph to +accompany his companions and remain under the charge of the farmer +and his wife at Greenwich; but the boy begged so earnestly to +remain at home with the rest, that he was permitted to do so. Truth +to tell, Joseph was more fascinated than alarmed by the thought of +the advance of the dreaded plague, and was by no means anxious to +be taken away from the city when all the world was saying that such +strange things would be seen ere long. The lad felt so safe beneath +the care of wise and loving parents, that he would never of his own +will consent to leave them. + +The moment the party had started by boat, the shop being that day +shut for the first time, albeit for some days nothing had been +stirring in the way of custom--Joseph darted away down a network of +alleys hard by in search of his younger brother Benjamin, who was +apprenticed to a carpenter in Lad Lane, off Wood Street, and +therefore much nearer to the infected parishes than the house on +the bridge. Benjamin was sure to know the latest news as to the +spread of the pestilence. Joseph was of opinion that it was all +rather fine fun, especially since it seemed like to get him a spell +of unwonted holiday. + +Already as he passed through the streets he noted a great many +empty and shut-up houses. Men were going about with grave and +anxious faces. Often they would look askance at some passerby who +might be walking a little feebly or unsteadily, and once Joseph saw +a man some fifty paces in advance of him stagger and fall to the +ground with a lamentable cry. + +Instead of flying to his assistance, all who saw him fled in +terror, crying one to the other, "It is the pestilence! Send for +the watch to get him away!" + +And presently there came two men who lifted him up and carried him +away, but whether he was then alive or dead the boy did not know, +and a great awe fell upon him; for he had never seen such a thing +before, and could not understand how death could come so suddenly. + +"Is it always so with them?" he asked of a woman who was craning +her head out of a window to see where the bearers were taking him. + +"I cannot tell," she answered. "They say that there be many walking +about amongst us daily in the streets who carry death to all in +their breath and in their touch, and yet they know it not +themselves, and none know it till they fall as yon poor man did, +and die ofttimes in a few minutes or hours. If such be so, who +knows when he is safe? May the Lord have mercy upon us all! There +be seven lying dead in this street today, and though folks say they +died of other fevers and distempers, who can tell? They bribe the +nurses and the leeches to return them dead of smaller ailments, but +I verily believe the pestilence is stalking through our very midst +even now." + +She shut down the window with a groan, and Joseph pursued his way +with somewhat modified feelings, half elated at being in the thick +of so much that was terrible and awesome, and yet beginning to +understand somewhat of the horror that was possessing the minds of +all. He found himself walking in the middle of the street, and +avoiding too close contact with the passersby; indeed all seemed +disposed to give strangers a wide berth just now, so that it was +not difficult to avoid contact. + +Yet crowds were to be seen, too, at many open spaces. Sometimes a +fervid preacher would be declaiming to a pale-faced group on the +subject of God's righteous judgments upon a wicked and licentious +city. Sometimes a wizened old woman or a juggling charlatan would +be seen selling all sorts of charms and potions as specifics +against the plague. Joseph pressing near in curiosity to one of +these vendors, found him doing a brisk trade in dried toads, which +he vowed would preserve the wearer from all infection. Another had +packets of dried herbs to which he gave terribly long names, and +which he declared acted as an antidote to the poison. Another had +small leaflets on which directions were given for applying a +certain ointment to the plague spots, which at once cured them as +by magic. The leaflets were given away, but the ointment had to be +bought. Those, however, who once read what the paper said, seldom +went away without a box of the precious specific. + +Joseph would have liked one himself, but had no money, and was +further restrained by a sense of conviction that his father would +say it was all nonsense and quackery. + +Church bells were ringing, and many were tolling--tolling for the +dead, and ringing the living into the churches, where special +prayers were being offered and many excellent discourses preached, +to which crowds of people listened with bated breath. Joseph crept +into one church on his way for a few minutes, but was too restless +to listen long, and soon came forth again. + +He was now near to Lad Lane, and hastening his steps lest he might +be further delayed, came quickly upon the back premises of the +carpenter's shop, where the sound of hammer and chisel and saw made +quite a clamour in the quiet air. + +"They are busy here at all events," muttered Joseph, as he pushed +open the gate of the yard, and in truth they were busy within; but +yet the sight that presented itself to his eyes was anything hut a +cheerful one, for every man in the large number assembled there was +at work upon a coffin. Coffins in every stage of construction stood +everywhere, and the carpenters were toiling away at them as if for +dear life. Nothing but coffins was to be seen; and scarcely was one +finished, in never so rude a fashion, but it was borne hurriedly +away by some waiting messenger, and the master kept coming into the +yard to see if his men could not work yet faster. + +"They say they must bury the corpses uncoffined soon," Joseph heard +him whisper to his foreman as he passed by. "No bodies may wait +above ground after the first night when the cart goes its round. +Six orders have come in within the last hour. No one knows how many +we shall have by nightfall, or how many men we shall have working +soon. I sent Job away but an hour since. I hope it was not the +distemper that turned his face so green! They say it has broken out +in three streets hard by, and that it is spreading like wildfire." + +Joseph shuddered as he listened and crept away to the corner where +his brother was generally to be found. And there sure enough was +Benjamin, a pretty fair-haired boy, who looked scarce strong enough +for the task in hand, but who was yet working might and main with +chisel and hammer. His face brightened at sight of his brother, yet +he did not relax his efforts, only saying eagerly: + +"How goes it at home with them all, Joseph? I trow it is the coffin +makers, not the lace makers, who have all the trade nowadays! We +are working night and day, and yet cannot keep up with the orders." + +Benjamin was half proud of all this press of business, but he did +not look as though it agreed with him. His face was pale, and when +at last he threw down his hammer it was with a gasp of exhaustion. +The day was very hot, and he had been at work before the dawn. It +was no wonder, perhaps, that he looked wan and weary, yet the +master passing by paused and cast an uneasy glance at him. For it +was from the very next stool that he had recently dismissed the man +Job of whom he had spoken, and of whose condition he felt grave +doubts. + +Seeing Joseph close by he gave him a nod, and said: + +"Hast come to fetch home thy brother? Two of my apprentices have +been taken away since yesterday. He is a good lad, and does his +best; but he may take a holiday at home if he likes. You are +healthier at your end of the town, and they say the distemper comes +not near water. + +"Wilt thou go home to thy mother, boy? We want men rather than lads +at our work in these days." + +Joseph had had no thought of fetching home his brother when he +started, but it seemed to him that Benjamin would be much better at +home than in this crowded yard, where already the infection might +have spread. The boy confessed to a headache and pains in his +limbs; and so fearful were all men now of any symptom of illness, +however trifling, that the master sent him forth without delay, +bidding Joseph take him straight home to his mother, and keep him +there at his father's pleasure. A young boy was better at home in +these days, as indeed might well be the case. + +Benjamin was well pleased with this arrangement, having had +something too much of over hours and hard work. + +"He thinks perchance I have the distemper upon me," he remarked +slyly to Joseph, "but it is not that. It is but the long hours and +the heat and noise of the yard. I shall be well enough when I get +home to mother." + +And this indeed proved to be the case. The child was overdone, and +wanted but a little rest and care and mothering; and right glad +were both his parents to have him safe under their own wing. + +Upon that hot evening, almost the first in June, James Harmer had +the satisfaction of feeling that he had every member of his family +under his own roof, and that his household contained now none who +were not indeed his very own flesh and blood. Janet had slept +peacefully almost the whole day, and had conversed happily and +affectionately through the closed door with her sisters, who were +rejoiced to have her there. She spoke of feeling perfectly well but +desired to remain in seclusion until certain that she could injure +none beside. She was not therefore able to be present when her +father unfolded his plans to the rest of the family, though she was +quickly apprised of the result later on. + +"My dear wife and dutiful children," said the master of the house, +as he sat at table and looked about him at the ring of dear faces +round him, "I have been thinking much as to what it is right for us +to do in face of this peril and scourge which God has sent upon the +city; and albeit I am well aware that it is the duty of every man +to take reasonable care of himself and his household, yet I also +feel very strongly that in the protection of the Lord is our +greatest strength and safeguard, and that our best and strongest +defence is in throwing ourselves upon His mercy, and asking day by +day for His merciful protection for a household which looks to Him +as the Lord of life and death." + +Then the good man proceeded to quote from Holy Writ certain +passages in which the pestilence is represented as being the +scourge of the Lord, and is spoken of as being an angel of the Lord +with a drawn sword slaying right and left, yet ever ready to spare +where the Lord shall bid. + +"I shall then," continued Harmer, "daily and nightly confide those +of this household into the keeping of Almighty God, and pray to Him +for His protection and special blessing. It may be (since His ears +are always open to the supplication of His children) that He will +send His angel of life to watch over us and keep us from harm; and +having this confidence, and using such means as seem wise and +reasonable for the protection of all, I shall strive--and you must +all strive with me--to dismiss selfish terrors and the horror that +begets cruelty and callousness, that we may all of us do our duty +towards those about us, and show that even the scourge of a +righteous and offended God may become a blessing if taken in +meekness and humility." + +Then the good man proceeded to say what precautions he was about to +take for the preservation of his family. He did not propose to fly +the city. He had many valuable goods on the premises, which he +might probably lose were he to shut up his house and leave. He had +no place to go to in the country, and believed that the scourge +might well follow them there, were every householder to seek to +quit his abode. Moreover, never was there greater need in the city +for honest men of courage and probity to help to meet the coming +crisis and to see carried out all the wise regulations proposed by +the Mayor and Aldermen. He had resolved to join them--since +business was like to be at a standstill for a while--and do +whatsoever a man could do to forward that good work. His son Reuben +was of the same mind with him; whilst his wife would far rather +face the peril in her own house than go out, she knew not whither, +to be perhaps overtaken by the plague on the road. Her heart had +yearned over the sick ever since she had heard her daughter's +harrowing tale, and knew that her sister was at work amongst the +stricken. She knew not what she might be able to do, but she +trusted to her husband for guidance, and would be entirely under +his direction. + +Some citizens spoke of victualling their houses as for a siege, and +entirely secluding themselves and their families till the plague +was overpast--and indeed this was many times done with success, +although the plan broke down in other cases--but this was not +Harmer's idea. He did indeed advise his wife and daughters to be +careful how they adventured themselves abroad, and where they went. +He had arranged at the farm near Greenwich for a regular supply of +provisions to be brought by water to the stairs hard by the bridge; +and since their house was supplied by water from the New River, +they were sure of a constant fresh supply. But he had no intention +of incarcerating himself or any of his household, and preventing +them from being of use to afflicted neighbours, whilst he himself +anticipated having to go into many stricken homes and into infected +houses. All the restriction he imposed was that any person sallying +forth into places where infection might be met should change his +raiment before going out, in a small building in the rear of the +shop which he was about to fit up for that purpose, and to keep +constantly fumigated by the frequent burning of certain perfumes, +of oil of sulphur, and of a coarse medicated vinegar which was said +to be an excellent disinfectant. On returning home again, the +person who had been exposed would doff all outer garments in this +little room, would resume his former clothing, and hang up the +discarded garments where they would be subjected to this +disinfecting fumigation for a number of hours, and would be then +safe to wear upon another occasion. He intended burning regularly +in his house a fire of pungent wood such as pine or cedar, which +was to be constantly fed with such spices and perfumes and +disinfectants as the physicians should pronounce most efficacious. +Perfect cleanliness he did not need to insist upon, for his wife +could not endure a speck of dust upon anything in the house. + +A careful diet, regular hours, and freedom from needless fears +would, he was assured, do much towards maintaining them all in +health, and he concluded his address by kneeling down in the midst +of his sons and daughters, and commending them all most fervently +to the protection of Heaven, praying for grace to do their duty +towards all about them, and for leading and guidance that they ran +not into needless peril, but were directed in all things by the +Spirit of God. + +They had hardly risen from their knees before a knock at the door +announced the arrival of a visitor, and Joseph running to answer +the summons--since there was now no servant in the house--came back +almost immediately ushering in the Master Builder, whose face wore +a very troubled look. + +"Heaven guard us all! I think my wife will go distraught with the +terror of this visitation, if it goes on much longer. What is a man +to do for the best? She raves at me sometimes like a maniac for not +having taken her away ere the scourge spread as it is doing now. +But when I tell her that if she is bent upon it she must e'en go +now, she cries out that nothing would induce her to set her foot +outside the house. She sits with the curtains and shutters fast +closed, and a fire of spices on the hearth, till one is fairly +stifled, and will touch nothing that is not well-nigh soaked in +vinegar. And each time that Frederick comes in with some fresh +tale, she is like to swoon with fear, and every time she vows that +it is the pestilence attacking her, and is like to die from sheer +fright. What is a man to do with such a wife and such a son?" + +"Surely Frederick will cease to repeat tales of horror when he sees +they so alarm his mother," said Rachel; but the Master Builder +shook his head with an air of more than doubt. + +"It seems his delight to torment her with terror; and she appears +almost equally eager to hear all, though it almost scares her out +of her senses. As for Gertrude, the child is pining like a caged +bird shut up in the house and not suffered to stir into the fresh +air. I am fair beset to know what to do for them. Nothing will +convince Madam but that there be dead carts at every street corner, +and that the child will bring home death with her every time she +stirs out. Yet Frederick comes to and fro, and she admits him to +her presence (though she holds a handkerchief steeped in vinegar to +her nose the while), and she gets no harm from him." + +"Poor child!" said Rachel, thinking of Gertrude, whom once she had +known so well, running to and fro in the house almost like one of +her own. "Would that we could do somewhat for her. But I fear me +her mother would not suffer her to visit us, especially since poor +Janet came home last night from a plague-stricken house." + +Reuben's eyes had brightened suddenly at his mother's words, but +the gleam died out again, and he remained quite silent whilst the +story of Janet's appearance at home was told. The Master Builder +listened with interest and sighed at the same time. Perhaps he was +contrasting the nature of his neighbour's wife with that of his +own. How would Madam have acted had her child come to her in such a +plight? + +Harmer then told his neighbour the rules he was about to lay down +for his own household, all of which the Master Builder, who was a +keen practical man, cordially approved. He was himself likely soon +to be in a great strait, for most probably he would be appointed in +due course to serve as an examiner of health, and would of +necessity come into contact with those who had been amongst the +sick, even if not with the infected themselves, and how his wife +would bear such a thing as that he scarce dared to think. Business, +too, was at a standstill, all except the carpentering branch, and +that was only busy with coffins. If London became depopulated, +there would be nothing doing in the building and furnishing line +for long enough. Some prophets declared that the city was doomed to +a destruction such as had never been seen by mortal man before. +Even as it was the plague seemed like to sweep away a fourth of the +inhabitants; and if that were so, what would become of such trades +as his for many a year to come? Already the Master Builder spoke of +himself as a half-ruined man. + +His neighbour did all he could to cheer him, but it was only too +true that misfortune appeared imminent. Harmer had always been a +careful and cautious man, laying by against a rainy day, and not +striving after a rapid increase of wealth. But the Master Builder +had worked on different lines. He had enlarged his borders wherever +he could see his way to doing so, and although he had a large +capital by this time, it was all floating in this and that venture; +so that in spite of his appearance of wealth and prosperity, he had +often very little ready money. So long as trade was brisk this +mattered little, and he turned his capital over in a fashion that +was very pleasing to himself. But this sudden and totally +unexpected collapse of business came upon him at a time when he +could ill afford to meet it. Already he had had to discharge the +greater part of his workmen, having nothing for them to do. The +expenses which he could not put down drained his resources in a way +that bid fair to bring him to bankruptcy, and it was almost +impossible to get in outstanding accounts when the rich persons in +his debt had fled hither and thither with such speed and haste that +often no trace of them could be found, and their houses in town +were shut up and absolutely empty. + +"As for Frederick, he spends money like water--and his mother +encourages him," groaned the unhappy father in confidence to his +friend. "Ah me! when I look at your fine sons, and see their +conduct at home and abroad, it makes my heart burn with shame. What +is it that makes the difference? for I am sure I have denied +Frederick no advantage that money could purchase." + +"Perhaps it is those advantages which money cannot purchase that he +lacks," said James Harmer, gravely--"the prayers of a godly mother, +the chastisement of a father who would not spoil the child by +sparing the rod. There are things in the upbringing of children, my +good friend, of far more value than those which gold will +purchase." + +The Master Builder gave vent to a sound almost like a groan. + +"You are right, Harmer, you are right. I have not done well in this +thing. My son is no better than an idle profligate. I say it to my +shame, but so it is. Nothing that I say will keep him from his +riotous comrades and licentious ways. I have spoken till I am weary +of speaking, and all is in vain. And now that this terrible scourge +of God has fallen upon the city, instead of turning from their evil +courses with fear and loathing, he and such as he are but the more +reckless and impious, and turn into a jest even this fearful +visitation. They scour the streets as before, and drink themselves +drunk night by night. Ah, should the pestilence reach some amongst +them, what would be their terrible doom! I cannot bear even to +think of it! Yet that is too like to be the end of my wretched boy, +my poor, unhappy Frederick!" + + + +CHAPTER V. THE PLOT AND ITS PUNISHMENT. + + +Strange as it may appear, the awful nature of the calamity which +had overtaken the great city had by no means the subduing influence +upon the spirits of the lawless young roisterers of the streets +that might well have been expected. No doubt there were some +amongst these who were sobered by the misfortunes of their fellows, +and by the danger in which every person in the town now stood; but +it seemed as if the very imminence of the peril and the fearful +spread of the contagion exercised upon others a hardening +influence, and they became even more lawless and dissolute than +before. "Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die," appeared to be +their motto, and they lived up to it only too well. + +So whilst the churches were thronged with multitudes of pious or +terrified persons, assembled to pray to God for mercy, and to +listen to words of godly counsel or admonition; whilst the city +authorities were doing everything in their power to check the +course of the frightful contagion, and send needful relief to the +sufferers, and many devoted men and women were adventuring their +lives daily for the sake of others, the taverns were still filled +day by day and night by night with idle and dissolute young men, +tainted with all the vices of a vicious Court and an unbelieving +age--drinking, and making hideous mockery of the woes of their +townsmen, careless even when the gaps amid their own ranks showed +that the fell disease was busy amongst all classes and ranks. +Indeed, it was no unheard of thing for a man to fall stricken to +the ground in the midst of one of these revels; and although the +master of the house would hastily throw him out of the door as if +he had staggered forth drunk, yet it would ofttimes be the +distemper which had him in its fatal clutches, and the dead cart +would remove him upon its next gloomy round. + +For now indeed the pestilence was spreading with a fearful +rapidity. The King, taking sudden alarm, after being careless and +callous for long, had removed with his Court to Oxford. The fiat +for the shutting up of all infected houses had gone forth, and was +being put in practice, greatly increasing the terror of the +citizens, albeit many of them recognized in it both wisdom and +foresight. Something plainly had to be done to check the spread of +the infection. And as there was no means of removing the sick from +their houses--there being but two or three pest houses in all +London--even should their friends be prompt to give notice, and +permit them to be borne away, the only alternative seemed to be to +shut them up within the doors of the house where they lay stricken; +and since they might already have infected all within it, condemn +these also to share the imprisonment. It was this that was the +hardship, and which caused so many to strive to evade the law by +every means in their power. It drove men mad with fear to think of +being shut up in an infected house with a person smitten with the +fell disease. Yet if the houses were not so closed, and guarded by +watchmen hired for the purpose, the sick in their delirium would +have constantly been getting out and running madly about the +streets, as indeed did sometimes happen, infecting every person +they met. Restraint of some sort was needful, and the closing of +the houses seemed the only way in which this could be accomplished. + +It may be guessed what hard work all this entailed upon such of the +better sort of citizens as were willing to give themselves to the +business. James Harmer and his two elder sons, Reuben and Dan, +offered themselves to the Lord Mayor to act as examiners or +searchers, or in whatever capacity he might wish to employ them. +Dan should by this time have been at sea, but his ship being still +in the docks when the plague broke out remained yet unladed. None +from the infected city would purchase merchandise. The sailing +master had himself been smitten down, and Dan, together with quite +a number of sailors, was thrown out of employment. + +Many of these poor fellows were glad to take service as watchmen of +infected houses, or even as bearers and buriers of the dead. At a +time when trade was at a standstill, and men feared alike to buy or +to sell, this perilous and lugubrious occupation was all that could +be obtained, and so there were always men to be found for the task +of watching the houses, though at other times it might have been +impossible to get enough. + +Orders had been sent round the town that all cases of the distemper +were to be reported within a few hours of discovery to the examiner +of health, who then had the house shut up, supplied it with a day +and a night watchman (whose duty it was to wait on the inmates and +bring them all they needed), and had the door marked with the +ominous red cross and the motto of which mention has been made +before. Plague nurses were numerous, but too often these were women +of the worst character, bent rather upon plunder than desirous of +relieving the sufferers. Grim stories were told of their neglect +and rapacity. Yet amongst them were many devoted and excellent +women, and the physicians who bravely faced the terrors of the time +and remained at their post when others fled from the peril, deserve +all honour and praise; the more so that many amongst these died of +the infection, as indeed did numbers of the examiners and searchers +who likewise remained at their post to the end. + +It will therefore be well understood that good Master Harmer and +his sons had no light time of it, and ran no small personal risk in +their endeavours to serve their fellow citizens in this crisis. +Although the pestilence had not as yet broken out in this part of +the town with the virulence that it had shown elsewhere, still +there were fresh cases rumoured day by day; and it often appeared +that when one case in a street was reported, there had been many +others there before of which no notice had been given, and that +perhaps half a dozen houses were infected, and must be forthwith +shut up. At first neglectful persons were brought before the +Magistrates; but soon these persons became too numerous, and the +Magistrates too busy to hear their excuses. An example was made of +one or another, to show that the laws must be kept; but Newgate +itself becoming infected by the disease, it was not thought fit to +send any malefactor there except for some heinous offence. + +Dan joined the force of the constables, and day by day had exciting +tales to tell about determined persons who had escaped from +infected houses either by tricking or overpowering the watchman. +All sorts of clever shifts were made to enable families where +perhaps only one lay sick to escape from the house, leaving the +sick person sometimes quite alone, or sometimes in charge of a +nurse. Dan said it was heartrending to hear the cries and +lamentations of miserable creatures pleading to be let out, +convinced that it was certain death to them to remain shut up with +the sick. Yet, since they might likely be themselves already +infected, it was the greater peril and cruelty to let them forth; +and he had ghastly tales to tell of the visitation of certain +houses, where the watchmen reported that nothing had been asked for +for long, and where, when the house was entered by searchers or +constables, every person within was found either dead or dying. + +The precautions duly observed by the Harmer family had hitherto +proved efficacious, and though the father and his sons going about +their daily duties came into contact with infected persons +frequently, yet, by the use of the disinfectants recommended by the +College of Physicians, and by a close and careful attention to +their directions, they went unscathed in the midst of much peril, +and brought no ill to those at home when they returned thither for +needful rest and refreshment. Janet had had a slight attack of +illness, but there were no absolute symptoms of the distemper with +it. Her father was of opinion that it might possibly be a very mild +form of the disease, but the doctor called in thought not, and so +their house escaped being shut up, and after a prudent interval +Janet came down and took her place in the family as before. Mother +and daughters worked together for the relief of the sick poor, +making and sending out innumerable dainties in the way of broth, +possets, and light puddings, which were gratefully received by poor +folks in shut-up houses, who, although fed and cared for at the +public expense when not able to provide for themselves, were +grateful indeed for these small boons, and felt themselves not +quite so forlorn and wretched when receiving tokens of goodwill +from even an unknown source. + +The harmony, tranquillity, and goodwill that reigned in this +household, even in the midst of so much that was terrible, was a +great contrast to the anguish, terror, and ceaseless recriminations +which made the Masons' abode a veritable purgatory for its luckless +inhabitants. As the news of the spreading contagion reached her, so +did Madam's terror and horror increase. As her husband had said +long since, she sat in rooms with closed windows and drawn +curtains, burned fires large enough to roast an ox, and half +poisoned herself with the drugs she daily swallowed, and which she +would have forced upon her whole household had they not rebelled +against being thus sickened. As a natural consequence of her folly +and ungovernable fears, Madam was never well, and was for ever +discovering some new symptom which threw her into an ecstasy of +terror. She would wake in the night screaming out in uncontrollable +fear that she had gotten the plague--that she felt a burning tumour +here or there upon her person--that she was sinking away into a +deadly swoon, or that something fatal was befalling her. By day she +would fall into like passions of fear, call out to her daughter to +send for every physician whose name she had heard, and upbraid and +revile her in the most unmeasured terms if the poor girl ventured +to hint that the doctors were beginning to be tired of coming to +listen to what always proved imaginary terrors. + +The only times when husband or daughter enjoyed any peace was when +Frederick chose to make his appearance at home. On these occasions +his mother would summon him to her presence, although in mortal +fear lest he should bring infection with him, and make him tell her +all the most frightful stories which he had picked up about the +awful spread of the disease, about the iniquities and abominations +practised by nurses and buriers, of which last there was plenty of +gossip (although probably much was set down in malice and much +exaggerated) and all the prognostications of superstitious or +profane persons as to the course the pestilence was going to take. +Eagerly did she listen to all of these stories, which Frederick +took care should be very well spiced, as it was at once his +amusement to frighten his mother and spite his sister; for Gertrude +in private implored him not to continue to alarm their mother with +his frightful tales, and also begged him for his own sake to +relinquish his evil habits of intemperance, which at such a time as +this might lead to fatal results. + +The good-for-nothing youth only mocked at her, and derided his +father when he gave him the same warning. He had become perfectly +unmanageable and reckless, and nothing that he heard or saw about +him produced any impression. Although taverns and ale houses were +closely watched, and ordered to close at nine o'clock, and the +gatherings of idle and profligate youths of whatever condition of +life sternly reprobated and forbidden by the authorities, yet these +worthies found means of evading or defying the regulations, and +their revels continued as before, so that Frederick was seldom +thoroughly sober, and more reckless and careless even than of old. +In vain his father strove to bring him to a better mind; in vain he +warned him of the peril of his ways and the danger to his health of +such constant excesses. Frederick only laughed insolently; +whereupon the Master Builder, who had but just come from his +neighbour's house, and was struck afresh with the contrast +presented by the two homes, asked him if he knew how Reuben Harmer +was passing his time, and made a few bitter comparisons between his +son and those of his neighbour. + +This was perhaps unfortunate, for Frederick, like most men of his +type, was both vain and spiteful. The mention of the Harmers put +him instantly in mind of his grudge against Reuben and his +suddenly-aroused admiration for rosy-cheeked Dorcas, both of which +matters had been put out of his head by recent events. He had +discovered also that Reuben generally accompanied his sister home +from Lady Scrope's house in the evening, so that it had not been +safe to pursue his attempted gallantries towards the maid. But as +he heard his father's strictures upon his conduct, coupled with +laudations of his old rival Reuben, a gleam of malice shone in his +eyes, and he at once made up his mind to contrive and carry out a +project which had been vaguely floating in his brain for some time, +and which might be the more easily arranged now that the town was +in a state of confusion and distress, and the streets were often so +empty and deserted. + +In that age of vicious licence, it seemed nothing but an excellent +joke to Frederick and his boon companions to waylay a pretty city +maiden returning to her home from her daily duties. Frederick meant +no harm to the girl; but he had been piqued by the way in which his +compliments and kisses had been received, and above all he was +desirous to do a despite to Reuben, whose rebukes still rankled in +his heart, though he had quickly forgotten his good offices on the +occasion of his escapade before Lady Scrope's door. Moreover, he +owed that notable old woman a grudge likewise, and thought he could +pay off scores all round by making away with pretty Dorcas, at any +rate for a while. So he and his comrades laid their plans with what +they thought great skill, resolved that they should be carried out +upon the first favourable opportunity. + +For a while Dorcas had been rather nervous of leaving the house in +Allhallowes unless Reuben was waiting for her. But as she had seen +no more of the gallant who had accosted her, and as it was said on +all hands that these had left London in hundreds, she had taken +courage of late, and had bidden her brother not incommode himself +on her account, if it were difficult for him to be her escort home. + +Of late he had oftentimes been kept away by pressure of other +duties. Sometimes Dan had come in his stead. Sometimes she had +walked back alone and unmolested. Persons avoided each other in the +streets now, and hurried by with averted glances. Although upon her +homeward route, which was but short, she had as yet no infected +houses to pass, she always hastened along half afraid to look about +her. But her father's good counsel and his daily prayers for his +household so helped her to keep up heart, that she had not yet been +frightened from her occupation, although her mistress always +declared on parting in the evening that she never expected to see +her back in the morning. + +"If the plague does not get you, some coward terror will. Never +mind; I can do without you, child. I never looked for you to have +kept so long at your post. All the rest have fled long since." + +Which was true indeed, only Dorcas and the old couple who lived in +the house still continuing their duties. Fear of the pestilence had +driven away the other servants, and they had sought safety on the +other side of the water, where it was still believed infection +would not spread. + +"I will come back in the morning. My father bids us all do our +duty, and sets us the example, madam," said Dorcas, as she prepared +to take her departure. + +It was a dark evening for the time of year; heavy thunderclouds +were hanging low in the sky and obscuring the light. The air was +oppressive, and seemed charged with noxious vapours. Part of this +was due to the cloud of smoke wafted along from one of the great +fires kept burning with the object of dispelling infection. But +Dorcas shivered as she stepped out into the empty street, and +looked this way and that, hoping to see one of her brothers. But +nobody was in sight and she had just descended the steps and was +turning towards her home when out from a neighbouring porch there +swaggered a very fine young gallant, who made an instant rush +towards her, with words of welcome and endearment on his lips. + +In a moment Dorcas recognized him not only as the gallant who had +addressed her once before, but also as Frederick Mason, her +brothers' old playfellow, of whom such evil things were spoken now +by all their neighbours on the bridge. + +Uttering a little cry of terror, the girl darted back, turned, and +commenced running like a hunted hare in the opposite direction, +careless where she went or what she did provided she only escaped +from the address and advances of her pursuer. But fleet as were her +own steps, those in pursuit seemed fleeter. She heard her tormentor +coming after her, calling her by name and entreating for a hearing. +She knew that he was gaining upon her and must soon catch her up. +She was in a lonely street where not a single passerby seemed to be +stirring. She looked wildly round for some way of escape, and just +at that moment saw a man come round a corner and fit a key into the +door of one of the houses. + +Without pausing to think, Dorcas made a rush towards him, and so +soon as the door was opened she dashed within the house, and fled +up the staircase--fled she knew not whither--uttering breathless, +frightened cries, whilst all the time she knew that her pursuer was +close behind, and heard his voice mingled with angry cries of +remonstrance from the man they had left below. + +Suddenly a door close to Dorcas opened, and a new terror was +revealed to her horror-stricken gaze. A gaunt, tall figure, wrapped +in a long white garment that looked like grave clothes, sprang out +into the stairway with a shriek that was like nothing human. Dorcas +sank, almost fainting with terror, to the ground; but the +spectre--for such it seemed to her--paid no heed to her, but sprang +upon her pursuer, who had at that moment come up, and the next +moment had his arms wound about him in a bearlike embrace, whilst +all the time he was laughing an awful laugh. Then lifting the +unfortunate young man off his feet with a strength that was almost +superhuman, he bore him rapidly down the stairs and rushed out with +him into the street. + +All this happened in so brief a moment of time that Dorcas had not +even time to regain her feet, or to utter the scream of terror +which came to her lips. But as she found breath to utter her cry, +another door opened and a scared face looked out, whilst a woman's +voice asked in lamentable accents: + +"What do you here, maiden? What has happened to bring any person +into this shut-up house? Child, child, how didst thou obtain +entrance here? The plague is in this house, and we are straitly +shut up!" + +Before Dorcas could answer for fright and the confusion of her +faculties, a pale-faced watchman came hurrying up the stairs. + +"Where is the maid?" he asked, and then seeing Dorcas he grasped +her by the wrist and cried, "Unless you wish to be shut up for a +month, come away instantly. This is a stricken house. What +possessed you to seek shelter here? Better anything than that. + +"As for your son, mistress, he is fled forth into the street; I +could not hinder him. We are undone if the constable comes. But if +we can get him back again ere that, all may be well. I will let you +forth to lead him hither if he will listen to your voice." + +From the room whence the sick man had appeared a frightened face +looked forth, and a half-tipsy old crone whimpered out: + +"The fault was none of mine. I had but just dropped asleep for a +moment. But when a man has the strength of ten what can one poor +old woman do?" + +Without paying any heed to this creature, the watchman and the +mother of the plague-stricken man, together with Dorcas, who +hurriedly told her tale as they moved, ran down the dark staircase +and out into the street. There, a little way off, was the tall +spectre-like figure, still hugging in bearlike embrace the hapless +Frederick, and dancing the while a most weird and fantastic dance, +chanting some awful words which none could rightly catch, but the +burden of which was, "The dance of death! the dance of death! None +who dances here with me will dance with any other!" + +"For Heaven's sake release him from that embrace!" cried the +mother, who knew that her son was smitten to death. "If all be true +that the maid hath said, he is not fit to die, and that embrace is +a deadly one!--O my son, my son! come back, come back! + +"Mercy on us, here is the watch! We are undone!" + +Indeed the trampling of many hasty feet announced the arrival of a +number of persons upon the scene. It seemed like enough to be the +constables or the watch; but the moment the newcomers appeared +round the corner, Dorcas, uttering a little shriek of joy and +relief, threw herself upon the foremost man, who was in fact none +other than Reuben himself--Reuben, followed closely by his brother +Dan, and they by several young roisterers, the boon companions of +Frederick. + +It had chanced that almost as soon as Dorcas had run from Lady +Scrope's door, hotly pursued by Frederick, her brothers had come up +to fetch her thence. It was also part of that worthy's plan that +they should hear she had been carried off, though not by himself. +His half-tipsy comrades, therefore, who had come to see the sport, +immediately informed the young men that the maid had been pursued +by a Scourer in such and such a direction; and so quickly had the +brothers pursued the flying footsteps of the pair--guided by the +footmarks in the dusty and untrodden streets--that they had come +upon this strange and ghastly scene almost at its commencement, and +in a moment their practised eyes took in what had happened. + +The open door marked with the ominous red cross, the troubled face +of the watchman, the ghastly apparition of the delirious +plague-stricken man, the horror depicted in the face of the +mother--all this told a tale of its own. Scenes of a like kind were +now growing common enough in the city; but this was more terrible +to the young men from the fact that the face of the unhappy and +half-fainting Frederick was known to them and that they understood +the awful peril into which this adventure had thrown him. They knew +the strength of delirious patients, and the peril of contagion in +their touch. To attempt to loosen that bearlike clasp might be +death to any who attempted it. + +Reuben looked about him, still holding his sister in his arms as +though to keep her away from the peril; and Dan, who had taken one +step forward towards the sheeted spectre, paused and muttered +between his teeth: + +"The hound! he has but got his deserts!" + +"True," said Reuben, for he was certain now that it had been +Frederick who was Dorcas's pursuer; "yet we must not leave him +thus. He will be strangled or choked by the pestilential smell if +we cannot get him away. Take Dorcas, Dan. Let me see if I can do +aught with him." + +But even as Reuben spoke, and Dorcas clung closer than ever to him +in fear that he was about to adventure himself into greater peril, +the delirious man suddenly flung Frederick from him, so that he +fell upon the pavement almost as one dead; and then, with a hideous +shriek that rang in their ears for long, fled back to the house as +rapidly as he had left it, and fell down dead a few moments later +upon the bed from which he had so lately risen. + +That fact they learned only the next day. For the moment it was +enough that the patient was safely within doors again, and that the +watchman could make fast the door. The roisterers had fled at the +first sight of the plague-stricken man with their hapless leader in +his embrace, and now the darkening street contained only the +prostrate figure on the pavement, the two brothers, and the +white-faced Dorcas, who felt like to die of fear and horror. + +As chance or Providence would have it, up at that very moment came +the Master Builder himself, and seeing his son in such a plight, +shook his head gravely, thinking him drunk in the gutter. But +Reuben went up and told all the tale, as far as he knew or guessed +it, and Dorcas having confirmed the same more by gestures than +words, the unhappy father smote his brow, and cried in a voice of +lamentation: + +"Alas that I should have such a son! O unhappy, miserable youth! +what will be thy doom now?" + +At this cry Frederick moved, and got slowly upon his feet. He had +been stunned by the violence of his fall, and for the first moment +believed himself drunk, and caught at his father's arm for support. + +"Have a care, sir," said Reuben, in a low voice; "he may be +infected already by the contact." + +But the Master Builder only uttered a deep sigh like a groan, as he +answered, "I fear me he is infected by a distemper worse then the +plague. I thank you, lads, for your kindly thoughts towards him and +towards me, but I must e'en take this business into mine own hands. +Get you away, and take your sister with you. It is not well for +maids to be abroad in a city where such things can happen. Lord, +indeed have mercy upon us!" + + + +CHAPTER VI. NEIGHBOURS IN NEED. + + +Gertrude Mason sat in the topmost attic of the house, leaning out +at the open window, and drinking in, as it were, great draughts of +fresh air, as she watched the lights beginning to sparkle from +either side of the river, and the darkening volume of water +slipping silently beneath. + +This attic was Gertrude's haven of refuge at this dread season, +when almost every other window in the house was shuttered and +close-curtained; when she was kept like a prisoner within the walls +of the house, and half smothered and suffocated by the fumes of the +fires which her mother insisted on burning, let the weather be ever +so hot, as a preventive against the terrible infection which was +spreading with fearful rapidity throughout all London. + +But Madam Mason's feet never climbed these steep ladder-like stairs +up to this eyrie, which all her life had been dear to Gertrude. In +her childhood it had been her playroom. As she grew older, she had +gradually gathered about her in this place numbers of childish and +girlish treasures. Her father bestowed gifts upon her at various +times. She had clever fingers of her own, and specimens of her +needlework and her painting adorned the walls. At such times as the +fastidious mistress of the house condemned various articles of +furniture as too antiquated for her taste, Gertrude would get them +secretly conveyed up here; so that her lofty bower was neither bare +nor cheerless, but, on the contrary, rather crowded with furniture +and knick-knacks of all sorts. She kept her possessions +scrupulously clean, lavishing upon them much tender care, and much +of that active service in manual labour which she found no scope +for elsewhere. Her happiest hours were spent up in this lonely +attic, far removed from the sound of her mother's plaints or her +brother's ribald and too often profane jesting. Here she kept her +books, her lute, and her songbirds; and the key of her retreat hung +always at her girdle, and was placed at night beneath her pillow. + +This evening she had been hastily dismissed from her father's +presence, he having come in with agitated face, and bidden her +instantly take herself away whilst he spoke with her mother. She +had obeyed at once, without pausing to ask the questions which +trembled on her lips. That something of ill had befallen she could +not doubt; but at least her father was safe, and she must wait with +what patience she could for the explanation of her sudden +dismissal. + +She knew from her brother's reports that already infected houses +were shut up, and none permitted to go forth. But so straitly had +she herself been of late imprisoned within doors, that she felt it +would make but little difference were she to hear that a watchman +guarded the door, and that the fatal red cross had been painted +upon it. + +"Our neighbours are not fearful as we are. They go to and fro in +the streets. They seek to do what they can for the relief of the +sick. My father daily speaks of their courage and faith. Why may +not I do likewise? I would fain tend the sick, even though my life +should be the forfeit. We can but live once and die once. Far +sooner would I spend a short life of usefulness to my fellow men, +than linger out a long and worthless existence in the pursuit of +idle pleasures. It does not bring happiness. Ah! how little +pleasure does it bring!" + +Gertrude spoke half aloud and with some bitterness, albeit she +strove to be patient with the foibles of her mother, and to think +kindly of her, her many faults notwithstanding. But the terror of +these days was taking with her a very different form from what it +did with Madam Mason. It was inflaming within her a great desire to +be up and doing in this stricken city, where the fell disease was +walking to and fro and striking down its victims by hundreds and +thousands. Other women, in all lands and of all shades of belief, +had been found to come forward at seasons of like peril, and devote +themselves fearlessly to the care of the sick. Why might not she +make one of this band? What though it should cost her her life? +Life was not so precious a thing to her that she should set all +else aside to preserve it! + +She was awakened from her fit of musing by an unwonted sound--a +hollow tapping, tapping, tapping, which seemed to come from a +corner of the attic where the shadows gathered most dun and dark. +The girl drew in her head from the window with a startled +expression on her face, and was then more than ever aware of the +strange sound which caused a slight thrill to run through her +frame. + +What could it be? There was no other room in their house from which +the sound could proceed. She was not devoid of the superstitious +feelings of the age, and had heard before of ghostly tappings that +were said to be a harbinger of coming death or misfortune. + +Tap! tap! tap! The sound continued with a ceaseless regularity, and +then came other strange sounds of wrenching and tearing. These were +perhaps not quite so ghostly, but equally alarming. What could it +be? Who and what could be behind that wall? Gertrude had heard +stories of ghastly robberies, committed during these past days in +plague-stricken houses, which were entered by worthless vagabonds, +when all within were dead or helpless, and from which vantage +ground they had gained access into other houses, and had sometimes +brought the dread infection with them. + +Gertrude was by nature courageous, and she had always made it a +point of duty not to add to her mother's alarms by permitting +herself to fall a victim to nervous terrors. Frightened though she +undoubtedly was, therefore, she did not follow the impulse of her +fear and run below to summon her father, who was, she suspected, +bent on some serious work of his own; but she stood very still and +quiet, pressing her hands over her beating heart, resolved if +possible to discover the mystery for herself before giving any +alarm. + +All at once the sounds grew louder; something seemed to give way, +and she saw a hand, a man's hand, pushed through some small +aperture. At that she uttered a little cry. + +"Who is there?" she cried, in a shaking voice; and immediately the +hand was withdrawn, whilst a familiar and most reassuring voice +made answer: + +"Is anybody there? I beg ten thousand pardons. I had thought the +attic would be hare and empty." + +"Reuben!" cried Gertrude, springing forward towards the small +aperture in the wall. "Oh, what is it? Is it indeed thou? And what +art thou doing to the wall?" + +"Gertrude! is that thy voice indeed? Nay, now, this is a good hap. +Sweet Mistress Gertrude, have I thy permission to open once again +betwixt thy home and mine that door which as children thy brother +and we did contrive, but which was presently sealed up, though not +over-strongly?" + +"Ah, the door!" cried Gertrude, coming forward to the place and +feeling with her hands at the laths and woodwork; "I had forgot, +but it comes to me again. Yes, truly there was a rude door once. +Oh, open it quickly! I will get thee a light and hold it. Dost thou +know, Reuben, what has befallen to make my father look as he did +but now? I trow it is something evil. My heart is heavy within me." + +"Ay, I know," answered Reuben; "I will tell thee anon, sweet +mistress, if thou wilt let me into thy presence." + +"Nay, call me not mistress," said Gertrude, with a little accent of +reproach in her voice. "Have we not played as brother and sister +together, and do not times like this draw closer the bonds of +friendship? Thou canst not know how lonesome and dreary my life has +been of late. I pine for a voice from the world without. Thou wilt +indeed be welcome, good Reuben." + +Gertrude was busying herself with the tedious preparations for +obtaining a light, and being skilful by long practice, she soon had +a lamp burning in the room; and in a few minutes more, by the +diligent use of hammer and chisel, Reuben forced open the little +rough door which long ago had been contrived between the boys of +the two households, and which had not been done away with +altogether, although it had been securely fastened up by the orders +of Madam Mason when she found her son Frederick taking too great +advantage of this extra means of egress from the house, though she +had other motives than the one alleged for the checking of the +great intimacy which was growing up between her children and those +of her neighbour. + +The door once opened, Reuben quickly stood within the attic, and +looked around him with wondering and admiring eyes. + +"Nay, but it is a very bower of beauty!" he cried, and then he came +forward almost timidly and took Gertrude by the hand, looking down +at her with eyes that spoke eloquently. + +"Is this thy nest, thou pretty songbird?" he said. "Had I known, I +should scarce have dared to invade it so boldly." + +Gertrude clung to him with an involuntary appeal for protection +that stirred all the manhood within him. + +"Ah, Reuben, tell me what it all means!" she cried, "for methinks +that something terrible has happened." + +Still holding the little trembling hand in his, Reuben told her of +the peril her brother had been in. He spoke not of Dorcas, not +desiring to pain her more than need be, but he had to say that her +brother was, in a half-drunken state, pursuing some maiden in idle +sport, and that, having been so exposed to contagion, there was +great fear now for him and for his life. + +Gertrude listened with pale lips and dilating eyes; her quick +apprehension filled up more of the details than Reuben desired. + +"It was Dorcas he was pursuing," she cried, recoiling and putting +up her hands to her face; "I know it! I know it! O wretched boy! +why does he cover us with shame like this? I marvel that thou canst +look kindly upon me, Reuben. Am I not his most unhappy sister?" + +"Thou art the sweetest, purest maiden my eyes ever beheld," +answered Reuben, his words seeming to leap from his lips against +his own will. Then commanding himself, he added more quietly, "But +he is like to be punished for his sins, and it may be the lesson +learned will be of use to him all his life. It will be a marvel if +he escapes the distemper, having been so exposed, and that whilst +inflamed by drink, which, so far as I may judge, enfeebles the +tissues, and causes a man to fall a victim far quicker than if he +had been sober, and a temperate liver." + +"My poor brother!" cried Gertrude, beneath her breath. "Oh, what +has my father done with him? What will become of him?" + +"Your father brought him hither at once--not within the house, but +into one of his old offices where in past times his goods were wont +to be stored. He has now gone to consult with your mother whether +or not the poor lad should be admitted within the house or not. If +your mother will not have him here, he will remain for a while +where he is; and if he falls sick, he will be removed to the pest +house." + +"Oh no! no! no!" cried Gertrude vehemently, "not whilst he has a +sister to nurse him--a roof, however humble, to shelter him. Let +him not die amongst strangers! I fear not the infection. I will go +to him this minute. Already I have thought it were better to die of +the plague, doing one's duty towards the sick and suffering, than +to keep shut up away from all. They shall not take him away to die +amidst those scenes of horror of which one has heard. Even my +mother will be brave, methinks, for Frederick's sake. I trow she +will open her doors to him." + +"That is what your father thinks. It may be that even now he is +bringing him within. But, sweet mistress, if Frederick comes here, +it may well be that in another week this house will be straitly +shut up, with the red cross upon the door, and the watchman before +the portal day and night. That is why I have come hither at once, +to open the little door between our houses; for I cannot bear the +thought of knowing naught that befalls you for a whole long month. +And since, though my work takes me daily into what men call the +peril of infection, I am sound and bring no hurt to others, I am +not afraid that I shall bring hurt to thee. I could not bear to +have no tidings of how it fared with thee. Thou wilt not chide me +for making this provision. It came into my head so soon as I knew +that peril of infection was like to come within these walls. We +must not let thee be shut quite away from us. We may be able to +give thee help, and in times of peril neighbours must play a +neighbourly part." + +The tears stood in Gertrude's eyes. She was thinking of the +unkindly fashion in which her mother had spoken of late years of +these neighbours, and contrasting with that the way in which they +were now coming forward to claim the neighbour's right to help in +time of threatened trouble. The tears were very near her eyes as +she made answer: + +"O Reuben, how good thou art! But if our house be infected, how can +it be possible for thee to come and go? Would it not be a wrong +against those who lay down these laws for the preservation of the +city?" + +Then Reuben explained to her that, though the magistrates and +aldermen were forced to draw up a strict code for the ordering of +houses where infection was, these same personages themselves, +together with doctors, examiners, and searchers of houses, had +perforce to go from place to place; yet by using all needful and +wise precautions, both for themselves and others, they had +reasonable hope of doing nothing to spread the contagion. Reuben, +as a searcher under his father, had again and again been in +infected houses, and brought face to face with persons dying of the +malady; yet so far he had escaped, and by adopting the wise +precautions ordered at the outset by their father, no case of +illness had appeared so far amongst them. If every person who could +be of use excluded himself from all chance of contagion, there +would be none to order the affairs of the unhappy city, or to carry +relief to the sufferers. There must be perforce some amongst them +who were ready to run the risk in order to assist the sufferers, +and they of the household of James Harmer were all of one mind in +this. + +"We do naught that is rash. We have herbs and drugs and all those +things which the doctors think to be of use; and thou shalt have a +supply of all such anon--if indeed thy mother be not already amply +provided. But I cannot bear for thee to be straitly shut up; I must +be able to see how it goes with thee. And should it be that thou +wert thyself a victim, thou shalt not lack the best nursing that +all London can give." + +She looked up at him with fearless eyes. + +"Do men ever recover when once attacked by the plague?" + +"Yes, many do--though nothing like the number who die. Amongst our +nurses and bearers of the dead are numbers who have had the +distemper and have survived it. They go by the name of the 'safe +people.' Yet some have been known to take it again, though I think +these cases are rare." + +"If Frederick takes it, will he be like to live?" asked Gertrude; +and Reuben was silent. + +Both knew that the unhappy young man had long been given to +drunkenness and debauchery, and that his constitution was +undermined by his excesses. The girl pressed her hands together and +was silent; but after a few moments' pause she looked up at Reuben, +and said, "You have given me courage by this visit. Come again +soon. I must to my mother now. I must ask her what I can do to help +her and my unhappy brother." + +"Take this paper and this packet before you go," said Reuben. "The +one contains directions for the better lodging and tending of the +sick. The other contains prepared herbs which are useful as +preventives--tormentil, valerian, zedoary, angelica, and so forth; +but I take it that pure vinegar is as good an antidote to infection +as anything one can find. Keep some always about you. Let your +kerchief be always steeped in it. Then be of a cheerful courage, +and take food regularly, and in sufficient quantities. All these +things help to keep the body in health; and though the most healthy +may fall victims, yet methinks that it is those who are underfed or +weakened by disease or dissipation upon whom the malady fastens +with most virulent strength. I will come anon and learn what is +betiding. Farewell for the nonce, sweet mistress, and may God be +with you." + +Greatly cheered and strengthened by this unexpected interview, +Gertrude descended to the lower part of the house in search of her +mother, and found her, with her face tied up in a cloth soaked in +vinegar, bending over the unhappy Frederick, who lay with a face as +white as death upon a couch in one of the lower rooms. + +To her credit be it said, the motherhood in the Master Builder's +wife had triumphed over her natural terror at the thought of the +infection. When her husband had brought her the news that Frederick +was in one of the old shop buildings, awaiting her permission +(after what had occurred) to enter the house; when she knew that +should he sicken of the plague he would be taken away to the pest +house to be tended there, and as she believed assuredly to die, she +burst into wild weeping, and declared that she would risk +everything sooner than that should happen. So it had been speedily +arranged that the unhappy youth should be provided with a vinegar +and herb bath and a complete change of raiment out there in the +disused shop, and that then he should come into the house, his +mother being willing to take the risk rather than banish him from +home. + +This had been quickly done, under the direction of good James +Harmer, who as one of the examiners of health was well qualified to +give counsel in the matter. He also told his neighbour that should +the young man be attacked by the plague, he would strive if +possible to gain for him the services of his sister-in-law, Dinah +Morse, who was one of the most tender and skilful nurses now +working amongst the sick. She was always busy; but so fell was the +action of the plague poison, that her patients died daily, despite +her utmost care, and she was constantly moving from house to house, +sometimes leaving none alive behind her in a whole domicile. A +certain number recovered, and these she made shift to visit daily +for a while; but her main work lay amongst the dying, whose friends +too often left them in terror so soon as the fatal marks appeared +which bespoke them sickening of the terrible distemper. + +The Master Builder received this promise with gratitude, having +heard gruesome stories of the evil practices of many of those who +called themselves plague nurses, but who really sought their own +gain, and often left the patient alone and untended in his agony, +whilst they coolly ransacked the house from which the other inmates +had often contrived to flee before it was shut up. + +Frederick, utterly unnerved and overcome by the horror of the thing +which had befallen him, looked already almost like one stricken to +death. His mother was striving to get him to swallow some of the +medicines which were considered as valuable antidotes, and to sip +at a cup of so-called plague water--a rather costly preparation +much in vogue amongst the wealthier citizens at that time. But the +nausea of the horrible smell of the plague patient was still upon +him, sickening him to the refusal of all medicine or food, and to +Gertrude's eyes he looked as though he might well be smitten +already. + +Her father was the only person who had eyes to notice her approach, +and he strode forward and took her by the hands as though to keep +her away. + +"Child, thou must not come here. Thy brother has been in a terrible +danger--half strangled by a creature raving in the delirium of the +distemper. It may be death to approach him even now. I would have +had thy mother keep away. Come not thou near to him. Let us not +increase the peril which besets us." + +Gertrude stood quite still, neither resisting her father, nor yet +yielding to the pressure which would have forced her from the room. + +"Dear sir," she said, with dutiful reverence, "I must fain submit +to thee in this thing. Yet I prithee keep me not from my brother in +the hour of his extremity. Methinks that a more terrible thing than +the plague itself is the cruel fear which it inspires, whereby +families are rent asunder, and the sick are neglected and deserted +in the hour of their utmost need. If indeed Frederick should fall a +victim, this house will be straitly shut up; and if it be true what +men say, the infection will spread through it, do what we will to +keep it away. Then what can it matter whether the risk be a little +more or less? Is it not better that I should be with my mother and +my brother, than that I should seek my own safety by shutting +myself up apart from all, a readier prey to grief and terror? +Methinks I should the sooner fall ill thus shut away from all. +Prithee let me take my place beside Frederick, and relieve my +mother when she be weary; so do I think it will be best for me and +her." + +The father's face quivered with emotion as he took his daughter in +his arms and kissed her tenderly. + +"Thou shalt do as thou wilt, my sweet child," he said. "These +indeed are fearful days, and it may be that happier are they who +let their heart be ruled by love instead of by fear. Fear has +become a cruel thing, from what men tell us. Thou shalt do thy +desire. Yet methinks thy brother has scarce deserved this grace at +thy hands." + +"Let us not think of that," said Gertrude, with a look of pain in +her eyes; "let us only think of his peril, and of the terrible +retribution which may fall upon him. God grant that he may find +repentance and peace at the last!" + +"Amen!" said the Master Builder, with some solemnity, thinking of +the fashion in which his son's time had been spent of late, and of +the very escapade which had brought this evil upon him. + +All that night mother and sister watched beside the bed of the +unhappy young man, who moaned and tossed, and too often broke into +blasphemous railings at the fate which had overtaken him. He gave +himself up for lost from the first, and having no hope or real +belief as regards the future life, was full of darkness and +bitterness of heart. He would not so much as listen when Gertrude +would have spoken to him of the Saviour's love for sinners, but +answered with mocking and profane words which made her heart die +within her. + +Towards morning he fell into a restless sleep, from which he +wakened in a high fever, not knowing any of those about him. The +father coming in, went towards him with a strange look in his eyes, +and after bending over him a few seconds, turned a haggard face +towards his wife and daughter, saying: + +"May the Lord have mercy upon us! he has the tokens upon him!" + +Instantly the mother uttered a scream of lamentation, and fell half +senseless into her husband's arms; whilst Gertrude stood suddenly +up with a white face and said: + +"Let me take word to our neighbours next door. Master Harmer is an +examiner. We must needs report it to him; and they will tell us +what we must do, and give us help if any can." + +"Ay, that they will," answered the Master Builder, with some +emotion in his voice. "Go, girl, and report that the distemper has +broken out in the house, and that we submit ourselves to the orders +of the authorities for all such as be infected." + +Gertrude sped upstairs. She preferred that method of transit to the +one by the street door. But she had no need to go further than her +attic; for upon opening the door she saw two figures in the room, +and instantly recognized Reuben and his sister Janet. The latter +came forward with outstretched hands, and would have taken Gertrude +into her embrace, but that she drew back and said in a voice of +warning: + +"Take heed, Janet; touch me not. I have passed the night by the +bedside of my brother, and he is stricken with the plague!" + +"So soon?" quoth Reuben, quickly; whilst Janet would not be denied +her embrace, saying softly: + +"I have no longer a fear of that distemper myself, for I have been +with it erstwhile, and my aunt Dinah tells me that I have had a +very mild attack of the same ill, and that I am not like to take it +again." + +"If indeed Frederick is smitten, we must take precautions to close +the house," said Reuben. "Is there aught you would wish to do ere +giving the notice to my father?" + +"Nay, I was on my way to him," said Gertrude, speaking with the +calmness of one upon whom the expected blow has at last fallen. +"Let what must be done be done quickly. Can we have a nurse? for +methinks Frederick must needs have tendance more skilled than any +we can give him. But let it not be one of those women"--Gertrude +paused and shuddered, as though she knew not how to finish her +sentence. + +"Trust me to do all for you that lies in my power," answered +Reuben, in a voice of emotion; "and never feel shut up altogether +from the world; even when the outer door be locked and guarded by a +watchman. I have already hung a bell within our house, and the cord +is tied here upon this nail. In any time of need you have but to +ring it, and be sure that the summons will be speedily answered." + +A mist rose before Gertrude's eyes and a lump in her throat. She +pressed Janet's hand, and said to Reuben in a husky voice: + +"I have no words today. Some day I will find how to thank you for +all this goodness at such a time." + +Before many hours had passed Dinah Morse was installed beside the +sick man. Strong perfumes were burnt in and about his room, and the +terrible tumours which bespoke the poison in his blood were treated +skilfully by poultices and medicaments, applied by one who +thoroughly understood the nature of the disease and the course it +ran. + +But from the first it was apparent to a trained eye that the young +man was doomed. There was too much poison in his blood before, and +his constitution was undermined by his reckless and dissolute life. +All that was possible was done to relieve the sufferings and abate +the fever of the patient. One of the best and most devoted of the +doctors who remained courageously at his post during this terrible +time was called in. But he shook his head over the patient, and bid +his parents make up their minds for the worst. + +"You have the best nurse in all London," said Dr. Hooker. "If skill +and care could save him, he would be saved. But I fear me the +poison has spread all over. Be cautious how you approach him, for +he breathes forth death to those who are not inoculated. I would I +could do more for you, but our skill avails little before this +dread scourge." + +And so, with looks and words of friendly compassion and goodwill, +the doctor took his departure; and before nightfall Frederick was +called to his last account. + +Just as the hour of midnight tolled, a sound of wheels was heard in +the street below, a bell rang, and a lugubrious voice called out: + +"Bring forth your dead! bring forth your dead!" + +Directed by Reuben, who was on the alert, the bearers themselves +entered the house and removed the body, wrapped in its linen +swathings, but without a coffin, for by this time there was not +such a thing to be had for love or money; nor could the carts have +contained their loads had each corpse been coffined. + +Gertrude alone, from an upper window, saw the body of her brother +laid decently and reverently, under Reuben's direction, in the +ominous-looking vehicle. For the mother of the dead youth was +weeping her heart out in her husband's arms, and was not allowed to +know at what hour nor in what manner her son's body was conveyed +away. + +"Will they fling him, with never a prayer, into some great pit such +as I have heard spoken of?" asked Gertrude of Dinah, who stood +beside her at the window, fearful lest she should be overwhelmed by +the horror of it all. + +She now drew her gently and tenderly back into the room, whilst the +cart rumbled away upon its mournful errand, and smoothing the +tresses of the girl, and drawing her to rest upon a couch hard by, +she answered: + +"Think not of that, dear child. For what does it matter what +befalls the frail mortal body? With whatsoever burial we may be +buried now, we shall rise again at the last day in glory and +immortality! That is what we must think of in these sorrowful +times. We must lift our hearts above the things of this world, and +let our conversation and citizenship be in heaven." + +Then the tears gushed out from Gertrude's eyes, and she wept freely +and fully the healing tears of youth. + + + +CHAPTER VII. SISTERS OF MERCY. + + +"Father, dear father, prithee let me go!" + +"What, my child? Have I not lost all but thee? Am I to send thee +forth to thy death in this terrible city, stricken by the hand of +God?" + +Into Gertrude's face there crept a wonderful light and brightness. +Her eyes shone with the intensity of her feeling. + +"Father," she said, "it is even because I hold the city to be +smitten by God that I ask thy permission to go forth to minister to +the sick and stricken ones. It seems to me as though in my heart a +voice had spoken, saying, 'Go, and I will be with thee.' Father, +listen, I pray thee. I heard that voice first, methought, upon the +terrible night when they came and took Frederick away. When mother +was next laid low, and as I watched beside her, and watched +likewise how Dinah soothed and comforted and assuaged her anguish +of mind and body, the voice in my heart grew ever louder and +louder. Whilst she lived, I knew my place was beside her; but it +has pleased God to take her away. No tie binds me here now. If I +stay, I shall but eat out my heart in fruitless longing, shut into +these walls, and by no means permitted to sally forth. From a +plague-stricken house I may only go to those smitten with the +distemper. Father, let me go! prithee let me go! Dinah will take +me; she will let me be with her. Ask her; she will tell thee." + +As the girl made her appeal to her father, the grave-faced, gentle +woman who had remained with this household for nigh fourteen days +stood quietly by. Dinah Morse had not quitted the house since the +day upon which the hapless Frederick had been stricken down by the +fell disease. For hardly had his remains been borne from the house +before the mother fell violently ill of a wasting fever. At first +there were no special indications of the plague in her malady; but +after a week's time these suddenly developed themselves. From the +first she had declared herself smitten by the distemper, and +whether this conviction helped to develop the germs of the malady +none could say. But be that as it might, the dreaded tokens +appeared upon her body at last, and within three days from that +time she lay dead. + +All that the kindness of friends and neighbours could avail had +been done. The Harmer family, in particular, had showed so much +attention and sympathy in this trying time, that Gertrude was often +overcome with shame as she recalled in what uncivil fashion they +had been treated by her mother of late years, and how they were now +returning good for evil, just at a time when so many men were +finding themselves forsaken even by their nearest and dearest in +the hour of their affliction. + +The whole experience through which she had passed had made a deep +and lasting impression upon Gertrude. She had already watched two +of the beings nearest and dearest to her fall victims to the dire +disease which was raging in the city and laying low its thousands +daily. It seemed to her that there was but one thing to be done now +by those whose circumstances permitted it, and that was to go forth +amid the sick and smitten ones, and do what lay within human power +to mitigate their sufferings, and to afford them the solace and +comfort of feeling that they were not altogether shut off from the +love and sympathy of their fellow men. + +"Father," she urged, as she saw that her parent still hesitated, +"what would have become of us without Dinah? What should we have +done had no help come to us in our hour of need? Think of the +hundreds and thousands about us longing for some such tendance and +love as she brought hither to us! What would have become of us had +no kind neighbours befriended us? And are we not bidden to do unto +others as we would have them do unto us in like case?" + +"But the risk, my child, the risk!" he urged. "Am I to lose my last +and only stay and solace?" + +"Mother died in this house, which is now doubly infected. I was +with her and with Frederick both, and yet I am sound and whole, and +thou also. Why should we so greatly fear, when no man can say who +will be smitten and who will escape? Methinks, perchance, those who +seek to do their duty to the living, as our good neighbours and the +city aldermen and magistrates and doctors are doing, will be +specially protected of God. Father, let me go! Truly I feel that I +have been bidden. Here I should fret myself ill in fruitless +longing. Let me go forth with Dinah. Let me obey the call which +methinks God has sent me. Truly I think I shall be the safest so. +And who can say in these days, take what precaution he will, that +he may not already have upon him the dreaded tokens? If we must +die, let us at least die doing good to our fellow men. Did not our +Lord say to those who visited the sick in their necessity, 'Ye have +done it unto me'?" + +"Child," said the Master Builder, in a much-moved voice, "it shall +be as you desire. Go; and may the blessing of God go with you. I +will offer myself for any post, as searcher or examiner, which may +be open, if indeed I may go forth from this house ere the +twenty-eight days be expired. If Dinah will take you, and if the +Harmers will let you both sally forth from the house, I will not +keep you back. It may be indeed that God has called you; and if so, +may He keep and bless you both." + +Father and daughter embraced each other tenderly. + +In those times the shadow of death was so very apparent that no one +knew from day to day what might befall him ere the morrow. Strong +men, leaving their homes apparently in their usual health, would +sink down in the streets an hour afterwards, and perhaps die before +the very eyes of the passersby, none of whom would be found willing +so much as to approach the sufferer with a kind word. Men would +hasten by with vinegar-steeped cloths held closely over their +faces; and later on some bearer with a cart or barrow would be sent +to carry away the corpse and fling it into the nearest pit, of +which there was now an ever-increasing number in the various +parishes. + +It will well be understood that in such days as these the need for +nurses for the sick was terribly great. The majority of those +so-called nurses were women of the lowest class, whose motive was +personal gain, not a loving desire to mitigate the sufferings of +the stricken. + +Whether all the dismal tales told by the miserable beings shut up +in their houses, and left to the mercy of watchmen and nurses, were +true may be well open to doubt. Many poor creatures became half +demented by terror, and scarcely knew what they said. But enough +was from time to time substantiated to prove how very terrible were +the scenes which sometimes went on within these sealed abodes; and +more than once some careless watchman or thieving and neglectful +nurse had been whipped through the streets for misdemeanours +brought home to them by the authorities. + +But now things were growing too pressing for individual cases to +attract much attention. Do as men would to cope with the evil, the +spread of the fell disease was something terrible to witness. Up +till quite recently, the cases in the southern and eastern parishes +and within the city walls had been few as compared with those in +the north and west; but now the scourge seemed to have fallen upon +the city itself, and the resources of the authorities were taxed to +the uttermost. + +The Harmer family welcomed back Dinah with joy; but when they heard +of Gertrude's resolve, they looked grave and awed. Then Janet +stepped forward suddenly, and addressing her father, said: + +"Dear father, what Gertrude has desired for herself is nothing less +than what I myself have often wished. Let me go forth also to tend +the sick. If our neighbour can dare to let his only child do this +thing, surely thou wilt spare me. Every day brings terrible tales +of the woe and the pressing need of hundreds and thousands around +us. Let me go, too. I am like to be safer than many, seeing that I +may already have been touched by the distemper, though I knew it +not." + +The example of his neighbour was not without effect upon the worthy +citizen. Moreover, it seemed to him that those who went about their +daily duties, and shrank not from contact with the sick when it was +needful, fared better than many who shut themselves up at home, and +feared to look forth even from their windows. As an examiner of +health he was frequently brought into contact with the sick, and +his son even oftener, and yet both kept their health wonderfully. +True, there were many amongst those who filled these perilous +offices who did fall victims, but not more in proportion than +others who shunned all contact with peril. Steady nerves and a +stout heart seemed as good preventives as any antidote; and the +physicians who laboured ceaselessly and devotedly amongst the +stricken ones seemed seldom to suffer. Moreover, after all these +weeks of terror, the minds of persons of all degrees were growing +used to the sense of uncertainty and peril, and Janet's request +aroused no very strenuous opposition from any member of her family. + +"She shall please herself," said her father, after some discussion +on the subject. "God has been very merciful to us so far. We will +put our trust in Him during all this time. If the girl has had a +call, let her do her duty, and He will he with her." + +That night the three devoted women slept beneath the roof of the +bridge house. Upon the morrow they sallied forth to their strange +task, but were told by the master of the house that they might +return thither at any time they chose, provided they took the +prescribed precautions with regard to their clothing before they +entered. + +The sun was blazing hotly down on the streets as they opened the +door to go forth. Sultry weather had now set in, no rain fell +through the long, scorching days, and the heat was a terrible +factor in the spread of the epidemic. Dinah, who had been nigh upon +fourteen days shut up in one house, looked about her with grave, +watchful eyes. Already she saw a great difference in the look of +the bridge. Four houses were marked with the ominous red cross; and +the tide of traffic, bearing the stream of persons out from the +stricken city, had almost ceased. Bills of health were difficult to +obtain now. The country villages round were loth to receive inmates +of London. All roads were watched, and many hapless stragglers sent +back again who had thought to escape from the city of destruction. +Myriads had already left, and others were still flying--they could +make shift to escape. But the continuous stream had ceased to cross +the bridge. Foot passengers were few, and all walked in the middle +of the road, avoiding contact with one another. Many kept a +handkerchief or cloth pressed to their faces. Strangers eyed each +other askance, none knowing that the other might not be already +sickening of the disease. Between the stones of the streets blades +of grass were beginning to grow up. Dinah pointed to these tokens +and gave a little sigh. + +Just before they turned off from the bridge a flying figure was +seen approaching, and Janet exclaimed quickly: + +"Why, it is Dorcas!" + +Since her fright of a fortnight back, Dorcas had remained an inmate +of Lady Scrope's house by her own desire. Although she knew that +poor Frederick would annoy her no more, she had come to have a +horror of the very streets themselves. She had never forgotten the +apparition of that white-robed figure, clad in what seemed like its +death shroud; and as Lady Scrope was by no means ill pleased to +keep her young maiden by night as well as by day, her father was +glad that she should be saved the risk even of the short walk to +and fro each day. + +But here she was, flying homewards as though there were wings to +her feet; and she would almost have passed them in her haste, had +not Janet laid hold of her arm and spoken her name aloud. Then she +gave a little cry of relief and happiness, and turning upon her +aunt, she cried: + +"Ah, how glad I am to see thee! I was praying thou mightst still be +at home. Lady Scrope has been suddenly seized by some malady, I +know not what. Everyone in the house but the old deaf man and his +wife has fled. Three servants left before, afraid of passing to and +fro. The rest only waited for the first alarm to seize whatever +they could lay hands upon and fly. I could not stop them. I did +what I could, but methinks they would have rifled the house had it +not been that the mistress, ill as she was, rose from her bed and +chased them forth. They feared her more than ever when they thought +she had the plague upon her. And now I have come forth for help; +for I am alone with her in the house, and I know not which way to +turn. + +"Ah, good aunt, come back with me, I prithee. I am at my wit's end +with the fear of it all." + +Without a moment's delay the party turned towards the house in +Allhallowes, and speedily found themselves at the grim-looking +portal, which Dorcas opened with her key. The house felt cool and +fresh after the glare of the hot streets. Although by no means a +stately edifice outside, it was roomy and commodious within, and +the broad oak staircase was richly carpeted--a thing in those days +quite unusual save in very magnificent houses. Doors stood open, +and there were traces of confusion in some of the rooms; but Dorcas +was already hurrying her companions up the stairs, and the silence +of the house was broken by the sound of a shrill voice demanding in +imperious tones who were coming and what was their business. + +"Fear not, mistress, it is I!" cried Dorcas, springing forward in +advance of the others. + +She disappeared within an open door, and her companions heard the +sharp tones of the answering voice saying: + +"Tush, child! who talks of fear? It is only fools who fear! Dost +think I am scared by this bogey talk of plague? A colic, child--a +colic; that is all I ail. I have always suffered thus in hot +weather all my life. Plague, forsooth! I could wish I had had it, +that I might have given it as a parting benediction to those knaves +and hussies who thought to rob me when I lay a-dying, as many a +woman has been robbed before! I only hope they may sicken of pure +fright, as has happened to many a fool before now! Ha! ha! ha! how +they did run! They thought I was tied by the leg for once. But I +had them--I had them! I warrant me they did not take the worth of a +sixpence from my house!" + +The chuckling laugh which followed bespoke a keen sense of +enjoyment. Certainly this high-spirited old lady was not much like +the ordinary plague patient. Dinah knocked lightly at the door, and +entered, the two girls following her out of sheer curiosity. + +"Heyday! and who are these?" cried Lady Scrope. + +That redoubtable old dame was sitting up in bed, her great frilled +nightcap tied beneath her chin, her hawk's eyes full of life and +fire, although her face was very pinched and blue, and there were +lines about her brow and lips which told the experienced eyes of +the sick nurse that she was suffering considerable pain. + +Dinah explained their sudden appearance, and asked if they could be +of any service. The old lady gazed at them all in turn, and her +face relaxed as she broke into rather a grim laugh. + +"Plague nurses, by all the powers! Certes, this is very pretty +company! If all that is said be true, ye be the worst harpies of +all. I had better have my own minions to rob me than be left to +your tender mercies. Three of you, too! Verily, 'wheresoever the +carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together,'" and the +patient laughed again, as though tickled at her own grim +pleasantry. + +Dorcas would have expostulated and explained and apologized, but +her mistress cut her short with a sharp tap of her fan. + +"Little fool, hold thy peace! as though I didn't know an honest +face when I see it! + +"Come, good people, look me well over, and you'll soon see I have +none of the tokens. It is but a colic, such as I am well used to at +this season of the year; but in these days let a body's finger but +ache, and all the world runs helter skelter this way and that, +calling out, 'The plague! the plague!' The plague, forsooth! as +though I had not lived through a score of such scares of plague. If +men would but listen to me, there need never be any more plagues in +London. But the fools will not hear wisdom." + +"What is your remedy, madam?" asked Dinah, who saw very clearly +that the old lady had gauged her symptoms aright; and although she +had alarmed her attendants by a partial collapse an hour before, +was mending now, and had no symptom of the distemper upon her. + +"My remedy is too simple for fools. Fill up every well in +London--which is just a poison trap--and drink only New River +water, and make every house draw its supply from thence, and we +shall soon cease to hear of the plague! That's my remedy; but when +I tell men so, they gibe and jeer and call me fool for my pains. +Fools every one of them! If it would only please Providence to burn +their city about their ears and fill up all the old wells with the +rubbish, you would soon see an end of these scares of plague. Tush! +if men will drink rank poison they deserve to have the plague--that +is all I have to say to them." + +Such an idea as this was certainly far in advance of the times, and +it was small wonder that Lady Scrope found no serious listeners +when she propounded her scheme. Dinah did not profess to have an +opinion on such a wide question. Her duties were with the sick. +Others must seek for the cause of the outbreak. That was not the +province of women. + +Something in her way of moving about and performing her little +offices pleased the fancy of the capricious old woman, as did also +the aspect of the two girls, who were assisting Dorcas to set the +room to rights after the confusion of the morning, when the +mistress had suddenly been taken with a violent colic, which had +turned her blue and rigid, and had convinced her household that she +was taken for death, and that by a seizure of the prevailing +malady. + +She asked Dinah of herself and her plans, and nodded her head with +approval as she heard that the two girls were to attend the sick +likewise under her care. + +"Good girls, brave girls--I like to see courage in old and young +alike. If I were young myself, I vow I would go with you. It's a +fine set of experiences you will have. + +"Young woman, I like you. I shall want to hear of you and your +work. Listen to me. This house is my own. I have no one with me +here save the child Dorcas, and I don't think she is of the stuff +that would be afraid; and I take good care of her, so that she is +in no peril. Come back hither to me whenever you can. This house +shall be open to you. You can come hither for rest and food. It is +better than to go to and fro where there be so many young folks as +in the place you come from. Bring the girls with you, too. They be +good, brave maidens, and deserve a place of rest. I have victualled +my house well. I have enough and to spare. I like to hear the news, +and none can know more in these days than a plague nurse. + +"Come, children, what say you to this? Go to and fro amongst the +sick; but come home hither and tell me all you have done. What say +you? Against rules for persons to pass from infected houses into +clean ones? Bah! in times like these what can men hope to do by +their rules and regulations? Plague nurses and plague doctors are +under no rules. They must needs go hither and thither wherever they +are called. If I fear not for myself, you need not fear for me. I +shall never die of the plague; I have had my fortune told me too +many times to fear that! I shall never die in my bed--that they all +agree to tell me. Have no fears for me; I have none for myself. + +"Make this house your home, you three good women. I am not a good +woman myself, but I know the kind when I see them. They are rare, +but all the more valued for that. Come, I say; you will not find a +better place!" + +Dorcas clasped her hands in rapture and looked from one to the +other. The fear of the distemper was small in comparison with the +pleasure of the thought of seeing her sister and aunt and friend at +intervals, now that she was so completely shut up in this lonely +house, and that the servants had all fled never to return. + +It was just such an eccentric and capricious whim as was eminently +characteristic of Lady Scrope. She had had nothing but her own +whims to guide her through life, and she indulged them at her +pleasure. She had taken a fancy to Dinah from the first moment. She +knew all about the family of her young companion, from having +listened to Dorcas's chatter when in the mood. Keenly interested in +the spread of the plague, which had driven away all her fashionable +friends, she was eager for news about it, and the more ghastly the +tales that were told, the more did she seem to revel in them. To +have news first hand from those who actually tended the sick seemed +to her a capital plan; and Dinah recognized at once the advantage +of having admittance for herself and the two girls to this solitary +and commodious house, where rest and refreshment could be readily +obtained, and where their coming and going would not be likely to +be observed or to hurt any one. + +"If your ladyship really means it--" she began. + +"My ladyship generally does mean what she says--as Dorcas will tell +you if you ask her," was the rather short, sharp reply. "Say no +more, say no more; I hate chitter-chatter and shilly-shally. The +thing's settled, and there's an end of it. Go your ways, go your +ways; I'm none too ill for Dorcas to look to, now that the little +fool is assured that I haven't got the plague. But you may have +brought it here yourself, so you are bound in duty to come back and +look after us the first moment you can. Go along with you all, and +bring me word what London is doing, and what the streets are like. +They say there be courts down in the worst parts of the town where +not a living person remains, and where there be none left to give +notice of the deaths. You go and bring me word about all that. + +"A fine thing truly for our grand city! The living soon will not be +enough to bury the dead! Go! go! go! I shall wait and watch for +your return. None will interfere with anything that goes on in my +house. You can come and go at will. Dorcas will give you a key. I +will trust you. You have a face to be trusted." + +"It is quite true--nobody ever dares interfere with her," said +Dorcas, as she led the way downstairs. "They think she is a witch; +and truly, methinks she is the strangest woman that ever drew +breath! But I shall love her for what she has said and done today. +I pray you be not long in coming again. None can want you much more +sorely than I do!" + + + +CHAPTER VIII. IN THE DOOMED CITY. + + +The clocks in the church steeples were chiming the hour of ten as +Dinah and her two companions started forth a second time upon their +errand of mercy and charity. It was an hour at which in ordinary +times all the city should be alive, the streets filled with +passersby, wagons lumbering along with heavy freights, fine folks +in their coaches or on horseback picking their way from place to +place, and shopmen or their apprentices crying their wares from +open doorways. + +Now the streets were almost empty. The shops were almost all shut +up. Here and there an open bake house was to be seen, orders having +been issued that these places were to remain available for the +public, come what might; and women or trembling servant maids were +to be seen going to and fro with their loads of bread or dough for +baking. + +But each person looked askance at the other. Neighbours were afraid +to pause to exchange greetings, and hurried away from all contact +with one another; and children breaking away from their mothers' +sides were speedily called back, and chidden for their temerity. + +Some of the churches stood wide open, and persons were seen to +hurry in, lock themselves for a few minutes into separate pews, and +pour out their souls in supplication. Often the sound of +lamentation and weeping was heard to issue from these buildings. At +certain hours of the day such of the clergy as were not scared away +through fear of infection, or who were not otherwise occupied +amongst the sick, would come in and address the persons gathered +there, or read the daily office of prayer; but although at first +these services had been well attended--people flocking to the +churches as though to take sanctuary there--the widely-increased +mortality and the fearful spread of the distemper had caused a +panic throughout the city. The magistrates had issued warnings +against the assembling of persons together in the same building, +and the congregations were themselves so wasted and decimated by +death and disease that each week saw fewer and fewer able to +attend. + +From every steeple in the city the bells tolled ceaselessly for the +dead. But it was already whispered that soon they would toll no +more, for the deaths were becoming past all count, and there might +likely enough be soon no one left to toll. + +At one open place through which Dinah led her companions, a tall +man, strangely habited, and with a great mass of untrimmed hair and +beard, was addressing a wild harangue to a ring of breathless +listeners. In vivid and graphic words he was summing up the +wickedness and perversity of the city, and telling how that the +wrath of God had descended upon it, and that He would no longer +stay His hand. The day of mercy had gone by; the day of vengeance +had come--the day of reckoning and of punishment. The innocent must +now perish with the guilty, and he warned each one of his hearers +to prepare to meet his Judge. + +The man was gazing up overhead with eyes that seemed ready to start +from their sockets. Every face in the crowd grew pale with horror. +The man seemed rooted to the spot with a ghastly terror. They +followed the direction of his gaze, but could see nothing save the +quivering sunshine above them. + +Suddenly one in the crowd gave a shriek which those who heard it +never forgot, and fell to the ground like one dead. + +With a wild, terrible laugh the preacher gathered up his long gown +and fled onwards, and the crowd scattered helter skelter, terrified +and desperate. None seemed to have a thought for the miserable man +smitten down before their very eyes. All took care to avoid +approaching him in their hasty flight. He lay with his face +upturned to the steely, pitiless summer sky. A woman coming +furtively along with a market basket upon her arm suddenly set up a +dolorous cry at sight of him, and setting down her basket ran +towards him, the tears streaming down her face. + +"Why, it is none other than good John Harwood and his wife +Elizabeth!" cried Janet, making a forward step. "Oh, poor +creatures, poor creatures! Good aunt, prithee let us do what we can +for their relief. I knew not the man, his face was so changed, but +I know him now. They are very honest, good folks, and have worked +for us ere now. They live hard by, if so be they have not changed +their lodgings. Can we do nothing to help them?" + +"We will do what we can," said Dinah. "Remember, my children, all +that I have bidden you do when approaching a stricken person. Be +not rash, neither be over-much affrighted. The Lord has preserved +me, and methinks He will preserve you, too." + +With that she stepped forward and laid a hand upon the shoulder of +the poor woman, who was weeping copiously over her husband, and +calling him by every name she could think of, though he lay rigid +with half-open eyes and heeded her not. + +"Good friend," said Dinah, in her quiet, commanding fashion, "it is +of no avail thus to weep and cry. We must get your goodman within +doors, and tend him there. See, there is a man with a handcart over +yonder. Go call him, and bid him come to our help. We must not let +your goodman lie out here in the streets in this hot sunshine." + +"God bless you! God bless you!" cried the poor distracted woman, +unspeakably thankful for any help at a time when neighbours and +friends were wont alike to flee in terror from any stricken person. +"But alas and woe is me! Tell me, is this the plague?" + +"I fear so," answered Dinah, who had bent over the smitten man; +"but go quickly and do as I have said. There be some amongst the +sick who recover. Lose not heart at the outset, but trust in God, +and do all that thou art bidden." + +The woman ran quickly, and the man, who was indeed one of those +forlorn creatures who, for a livelihood, were even willing to scour +the streets and remove from thence those that were stricken down by +death as they went their way amongst their fellows, came with her +at her request, and lifting her husband into his cart, wheeled him +away towards a poor alley where lay her home. + +As she turned into it she looked at the three women who followed, +and said: + +"God have mercy upon us! I would not have you adventure yourselves +here. There be but three houses in all the street where the +distemper has not come, and of those, mine, which was one, must now +be shut up. Lord have mercy upon us indeed, else we be all dead +men!" + +Dinah paused for a brief moment, and looked at her young charges. + +"My children," she said, "needs must that I go where the need is so +great. But bethink you a moment if ye have strength and wish to +follow. I know not what sad and terrible sights we may have to +encounter. Think ye that ye can bear them? Have ye the strength to +go forward? If not, I would have you go back ere you have reached +the contamination." + +Janet looked at Gertrude, and Gertrude looked at Janet; but though +there was great seriousness and awe in their faces, there was no +fear. Gertrude had gone through so much already within the walls of +her home that she had no fear greater than that of remaining in +helpless idleness there, alone with her own thoughts and memories. +As for Janet, she had much of the nature of her aunt--much of that +eager, intense sympathy and compassion for the sick and suffering +which has induced women in all ages to go forth in times of dire +need, and risk their lives for their stricken and afflicted +brethren. + +So after one glance of mutual comprehension and sympathy, they both +answered in one breath: + +"No, we will not turn back. We will go with you. Where the need is +sorest, there would we be, too." + +"God bless you! God bless you for angels of mercy!" sobbed the poor +woman, who heard their words, and knowing both Dinah and Janet, +understood something of the situation, "for we be perishing like +sheep here in this place, shut away from all, and with never a +nurse to come nigh us. There be some rough fellows placed outside +the houses to see that none go in or out, and perchance they do +their best to find nurses; but at such a time as this it is small +wonder if ofttimes none are to be found. And some they have brought +are worse than none. The Lord protect us from the tender mercies of +such!" + +The narrow court into which they now turned was cool in comparison +with the sunny street; but there was nothing refreshing in the +coolness, for fumes of every sort exhaled from the houses, and at +the far end there burned a fire of resinous pine logs, the smoke +from which, when it rolled down the court, was almost choking. + +"They say it will check the spread of the distemper to the streets +beyond," said the woman, "but methinks it does as much harm as +good. If the Lord help us not, we be all dead men. The cart took +away a score or more of corpses last night. Pray Heaven it take not +away my poor husband tonight!" + +The bearer of the handcart stopped at the door indicated by the +woman, and lifted the stricken man in his arms. It was one of the +very few doors all down that street which did not bear the ominous +red cross. + +As Gertrude looked up and down the court her heart sank within her +for pity. The houses were closed. Watchers lounged at the doors, +drinking and smoking and jesting together, being by this time +recklessly and brutally hardened to their office. They knew not +from day to day when their own turn might come; but this knowledge +seemed to have an evil rather than a sobering effect upon them. + +The better sort of watchmen were employed, as a rule, to keep the +better sort of houses. When these crowded courts and alleys were +attacked, the authorities had to send whom they could rather than +whom they would. Indefatigable and courageously as they worked, the +magnitude of the calamity was such that it taxed their resources to +the utmost; and had it not been for the bountiful supplies of money +sent in by charitable people, from the king downwards, for the +relief of the city in this time of dire need, thousands must have +perished from actual want, as well as those who fell victims to the +plague itself. Yet do as these brave and devoted men could, the +sufferings of the poor at this time were terrible. + +As the sound of voices was heard in the street below, windows were +thrown up, and heads protruded with more or less of caution. From +one of the windows thus thrown up there issued a lamentable +wailing, and a woman with a white, wild face cried out in tones of +passionate entreaty: + +"Help! help! help! good people. Ah, if that be a nurse, let her +come hither. There be five dying and two dead in the house, and +none but me to tend them, and methinks I am stricken to the death!" + +"Janet," said Dinah, with a searching glance at her niece, +"methinks I must needs answer that cry. Go with this good woman, +and do what thou canst for her husband. Thou dost know what is best +to be done. I will come to thee anon; but thou wilt not fear to be +thus left? There is but one sick in this house. The need is sorer +elsewhere." + +"Go, I will do my best. At least I can make a poultice, and see +that he is put to bed. I have medicaments in my bag. I would not +hinder thee. Sure there is work for all in this terrible place!" + +"And this is only one of many scattered throughout the city!" +breathed Gertrude softly, her heart swelling within her. + +Ever since she had halted before this house she had been aware of +the sound of plaintive weeping and wailing proceeding from the +adjoining tenement; and as Dinah moved away towards the door +opposite, she asked Elizabeth Harwood what the sound meant, and if +there was trouble in the next house. + +"Trouble?--trouble and death everywhere!" was the answer. "The man +was taken away in the cart yesternight. God alone knows who is +alive in the house now. There be seven little children there with +their mother, but which of them be living and which dead by now no +one knows. I have heard nothing of the woman's voice these many +hours. Pray Heaven she be not dead--and the little helpless +children all alone with the dead corpse!" + +"Oh, surely that could not be!" cried Gertrude. "Surely the +watchman would go to them! Oh, that must not be! I will go and +speak with him. He would not leave them to perish so!" + +The woman shook her head, and hurried up the stairs whither her +husband had been carried. Her heart was too full of her own anxious +misery to have room for more than a passing sympathy for the needs +and troubles of others. + +But Gertrude could not rest. She neither followed Janet into this +house nor her aunt across the street. She went to the door of the +next house, upon which the red cross had been painted; and seeing +her so stand before it, a man detached himself from a group hard by +and asked her business, since the house was closed. + +"I am a nurse," answered Gertrude, boldly. "I have come to nurse +the sick. Let me into this house, I pray, for I hear the need is +very sore." + +"Sore enough, mistress," answered the man, fumbling with his key, +for of course there was admittance to plague nurses and doctors +into infected houses; "but if you take my advice, you'll not +venture within the door. The dead cart has had four from it these +last two days. Like enough by this time they are all dead. They +have asked for nothing these past ten hours--not since the cart +came last night." + +With a shudder of pity and horror, but without any personal +shrinking, Gertrude signed to the man to open the door, which he +proceeded to do in a leisurely manner. Then she stepped across the +threshold, the door was closed behind her, and she heard the key +turn in the lock. + +Truly her work had now begun. She was incarcerated in a +plague-stricken house, and this time by her own will. + +For the first few seconds she stood still in the dark entry, unable +to see her way before her; but soon her eyes grew used to the dim +light, and she saw that there was a door on one side of the passage +and a steep flight of stairs leading upwards, and it was from some +upper portion of the house from which the sound of crying +proceeded. + +Just glancing into the lower room, which she found quite empty, and +which was unexpectedly clean, she mounted the rickety staircase, +the wailing sound growing more distinct every step she took. The +house was a very tiny one even for these small tenements, and there +were only two little rooms upon the upper floor. It was from one of +these that the crying was proceeding, but Gertrude could not be +sure which. + +With a beating heart she opened the first door, and saw a sight +which went to her heart. Upon a narrow bed lay two little forms +wrapped in the same sheet, rigidly still, waiting their last +transit to the common grave. Except for the two dead children the +room was empty, and Gertrude, softly closing the door, and +breathing a silent prayer, she scarce knew whether for herself, for +the living, or for the dead, she opened the other, and came upon a +scene, the pathos and inexpressible sadness of which made a lasting +impression upon her, which even after events did not efface from +her memory. + +There was a bed in this room too, and upon it lay the emaciated +form of a woman; asleep, as the girl first thought--dead, as she +afterwards quickly discovered. By her side there nestled a little +child, hardly more than an infant, wailing pitifully with that +plaintive, persistent cry which had attracted her attention at the +outset. Three children, varying in age from four to eight, sat +huddled on the floor in a corner, their tear-stained faces all +turned in wondering expectancy upon the newcomer. Stretched upon +the floor beside the bed was another child, so still that Gertrude +felt from the first that it, too, was dead, and when she lifted up +the little form, she saw the dreaded death tokens upon the waxen +skin. + +With a prayer in her heart for grace and strength and guidance, +Gertrude laid the dead child beside its dead mother--for she saw +that the woman was cold and stiff in death; and then she gathered +the living children round her, and taking the infant in her arms, +she led them all down into the lower room, and quickly kindled the +fire that was laid ready in the grate. + +She found nothing of any sort in the house, and the children were +crying for food; but the watchman quickly provided what was +needful, being, perhaps, a little ashamed of the condition in which +this household had been found. + +Gertrude tended and fed and comforted the little ones, her heart +overflowing with sympathy. They clung about her and fondled her as +children will do those who have come to them in their hour of dire +necessity; and as their hunger became appeased, and they grew +confident of the kindness of their new friend, they told their +pathetic tale with the unconscious graphic force of childhood. + +There had been a large household only a few days before. Father, +mother, two grownup sons, and one or two daughters--evidently by a +former marriage. The big brothers had gone away--probably to act as +bearers or watchmen--and the little ones knew nothing of them. One +of the sisters had been in service, but came home suddenly, +complaining of illness, sat down in a chair, and died almost before +they realized she was ill. They had kept that death a secret, had +obtained a certificate of some other ailment than the distemper, +and for a week all had gone on quietly, when suddenly three became +ill together. + +Numbers of houses were shut up all round them. Theirs was reported +and closed. For a few days there had been hope. Then the father +sickened, and all the grownup persons had died almost together, +save the mother, and had been taken away the night before last. + +What had happened since was dim and confused to the children. Their +mother had seemed like one stunned--had hardly noticed them, or +attended to their wants. Then two of them had been taken away into +the other room. They had heard their mother weeping aloud for a +while, but she would not let them in to her. By and by she had come +back to them, and had taken the baby in her arms and lain down upon +the bed. She had never moved after that--not even when little Harry +had called to her, and had lain crying and moaning on the floor. +The children thought she was asleep, and by and by Harry had gone +to sleep too. They had slept together on the floor, huddled +together in helpless misery and confusion of mind, until awakened +by the ceaseless wailing of the baby, which never roused their +mother. They were too much bewildered and weakened to make any +attempt to call for help, and were just waiting for what would +happen, when Gertrude had come amongst them like an angel of mercy. + +Her tears fell fast as the story was told, but the children had +shed all theirs. They were comforted now, feeling as though +something good had happened, and they crept about her and clung +round her, begging her not to leave them. + +Nor had she any wish to do so. It seemed to her as though this must +surely be her place for the present--amongst these helpless little +ones to whom Providence had sent her in the hour of their extreme +necessity. + +The baby was sleeping in her arms. She looked down into its tiny +face, and wondered if it would be possible that its life could be +saved. For a whole night it had lain at its dead mother's side. +Could it have escaped the contagion? The three older children +appeared well, and even grew merry as the hours wore slowly away. + +From time to time Gertrude looked out into the street, but there +was nothing to be seen save the men on guard; and only from time to +time was the silence broken by the cry of some delirious patient, +or a shriek for mercy from some half-demented woman driven frantic +by the terrors by which she was surrounded. + +When afternoon came, she prepared more food for the children, and +partook of it with them, and wondered how and where she should +spend the night. The infant in her arms had grown strangely still +and quiet. It could not be roused, and breathed slowly and heavily. + +"Harry looked just like that before he went to sleep," said the +eldest of the children, coming and peeping into the small waxen +face; and Gertrude gave a little involuntary shiver as she thought +of the four still forms lying sleeping upstairs, and wondered +whether this would make a fifth for the bearers to carry forth at +night. + +Just as the dusk began to fall, there came the sound of a slight +parley without. Then the key turned in the house door, and the next +minute, to Gertrude's unspeakable relief, Dinah entered the room. + +"My poor child, did you think I was never coming to you?" + +"I did not know if you could," answered Gertrude. "Oh, tell me, +what must I do for all these little ones--and for the baby? Is he +dying too? It is so long since he has moved. I am afraid to look at +him lest I disturb him, but--but--" + +Dinah bent over the little form, and lifted it gently from +Gertrude's arms. + +"Poor little lamb, its troubles are all over," she said, after a +few moments. "The little ones often go like that--quite peacefully +and quietly. It has not suffered at all. It has been a gentle and +merciful release. You need not weep for it, my child." + +"I think my tears are for the living rather than for the dead," +answered Gertrude, with brimming eyes. "There are but three left +out of seven living yesterday, and what is to become of them?" + +"We must report their case to the authorities. There are numbers of +poor children left thus orphaned, and it is hard to know what will +become of them. I will send at once to my brother-in-law, and +report the matter to him. He will know what it were best to do. +Meantime I shall remain here with you. Janet is busy next door. Her +patient is mending, and none besides in the house is sick. But oh, +the things I have seen and heard this day! There is not one living +now in the house to which I went first, and I have seen ten men and +women die since I saw you last. + +"God alone knows how it is to end. It seems as though His hand were +outstretched, and as though the whole city were doomed!" + + + +CHAPTER IX. JOSEPH'S PLAN. + + +"Ben, boy, I am sick to death of sitting at home doing naught, and +seeing naught of all the sights that be abroad, and of which men +are for ever speaking. What boots it to be alive, if one is buried +or shut up as we are? Art thou afraid to come forth? or shall I go +alone?" + +"Where wilt thou go, brother?" asked Ben, looking up from a bit of +wood carving upon which he was engrossed, with an eager light in +his eyes. Perhaps these two young lads had felt the calamity which +had befallen the city more than any one else in the house; for +whilst the father, mother, sisters, and two elder sons were all +hard at work doing all in their power for the relief of the sick, +the younger lads were kept at home, to be as far as possible out of +harm's way, and they had felt the confinement and idleness as most +irksome. Their mother employed them about the house when she could, +but it was not much she could find for them to do. To be sure there +was some amusement to be found in watching the life on the river; +for though traffic was suspended, many whole families were living +on board vessels moored on the river, and hoped by this device to +keep the plague away from them. Yet the time hung very heavy on +their hands, and the stories of the increasing ravages of the +plague could not but depress them, seeming as they did to lengthen +out indefinitely the time of their captivity. + +Three of the sisters were practically living away from the house +(of which more anon), and the loneliness of the silent house was +becoming unbearable. To lads used to an active life and plenty of +exercise, the distemper itself seemed a less evil than this close +confinement between four walls. The bridge houses did not even +possess yards or strips of garden, and without venturing out into +the streets--which had for some weeks been forbidden by their +father--the boys could not stir beyond the walls of their home. + +August had now come, a close, steaming, sultry August, and the +plague was raging with a virulence that threatened to destroy the +whole city. The Bills of Mortality week by week were appalling in +magnitude; and yet those who knew best the condition of the lower +courts and alleys were well aware that no possible record could be +kept of those crowded localities, where whole households and +families, even whole streets, were swept away in the course of a +few days, and where there were sometimes none left to give warning +and notice that there were dead to be borne away. So the registered +deaths could only show a certain proportionate accuracy; for even +the dead carts could keep no reckoning of the numbers they bore to +the common grave, and the bearers themselves were too often +stricken down in the performance of their ghastly duties, and shot +by their comrades into the pit amongst those whom they had carried +forth an hour before. + +It was small wonder that the father had forbidden his younger sons +to adventure themselves in the streets, where the pestilence seemed +to hang in the very air. But the magnitude of the peril was +beginning to rob even the most cautious persons of any confidence +in their methods, for it seemed as if those working hardest amongst +the sick and dead were quite as much preserved from peril as those +who shunned their neighbours and never came abroad unless dire +necessity compelled them. Indeed, despite many deaths of +individuals, it began to be noted that the magistrates, aldermen, +examiners of health, and nurses of the plague-stricken sickened and +died less, in proportion, than almost any other class. And of the +physicians who remained at their posts to tend the sick, not many +died, although some few here and there were stricken, and of these +a certain proportion succumbed. But, as a whole, the workers who +toiled with a good heart and gentle spirit amongst the sick (not +just for daily bread or love of gain) fared better in the +prevailing mortality than many others who held themselves aloof and +lived in deadly fear of the pestilence. Wherefore it was not +strange that at the last a sort of recklessness was bred amongst +the citizens, and they kept themselves less close now when things +were in so terrible a pass than they had done when the deaths were +fewer and the conditions less fatal. + +James Harmer had always been one of those who had put his +confidence more in the providence of God than in any merely human +precautions, and although he had always insisted upon prudence and +care, he had steadily discouraged in his household any of that +feeling of panic or of despair which he believed had been a strong +factor in the spread of the distemper in its earlier stages. He +also agreed in part with Lady Scrope's views regarding the water +supply of the city--the old wells and the contaminated river water. +He let nothing be drunk in his house save what was supplied from +the New River, and he impressed the same advice upon all his +neighbours. + +But to return to the boys and their weariness of the shut-up life +of the house. The heat had grown intolerable, their pining after +fresh air and liberty was become too strong for resistance. +Benjamin's eyes glowed at the very thought of escape from the +region of streets and shut-up houses, and he drank in the sense of +his brother's words eagerly. + +"Hark ye," cried Joseph, in a rapid undertone, for they did not +wish their mother to overhear them, she being by many degrees more +fearful than their father, as was but natural, "why should we stay +pent up here day after day and week after week, when even the girls +be permitted abroad, and go into the very heart of the peril? We +cannot be nurses to the sick, I know right well; neither can we +help to search houses, or do such like things, as the elder ones. +But why do we tarry at home eating our hearts out, when the whole +world is before us, and there be such wondrous things to see? + +"Listen, Ben. I have a plan. Let us but once get free of this +house, and be our own masters, and we will wander about London as +we will, and see those things of which all men be speaking. I long +to look into one of those yawning pits where they shoot the dead, +and to see the grass growing in the city, and to hear some of those +strange preachers who go about prophesying in the streets. I long +for liberty and freedom. I would sooner die of the plague at last +than fret my heart out shut up here. And we may be smitten as well +at home as abroad, as even father says himself." + +"Why, so we may; and methinks more are smitten so than those who go +forth and breathe the air without!" cried Benjamin. "Our aunt lives +amongst the dying, but she is not smitten; and the girls are ever +in peril, but they live on, whilst others are taken. But will our +father let us go forth? For I would not like to go unless he bid +us." + +"Nay, nor I," answered Joseph quickly, for reverence for their +father was a strong sentiment in all James Harmer's sons and +daughters; "we will strive to win his consent and blessing to our +going forth; but we need not say all that we purpose doing when we +are free. For, indeed, it may well be that we shall meet with many +hindrances. They say that the roads leading away from the city are +all closely watched, that no infected person is able to pass, and +that many sound ones are turned back lest they bring the infection +with them." + +"Then how shall we get out?" asked Benjamin; but Joseph nodded his +head wisely, and said he had a plan. + +Before, however, he could further enlighten his brother they heard +their father's footfall on the stair, and he came in looking weary +and sad, as it was inevitable that he should, coming as he did into +personal contact with so much misery, sickness, and death. + +There was always refreshment ready for the workers at any hour of +the day when they should come in to seek it. The boys rushed off to +get him such things as their mother had ready, and whilst he +partook of the wholesome and appetising meal prepared for him, +Joseph burst out with his pent-up weariness of the shut-up life, +his longing to be free of the house and the city, and his earnest +desire that his father would permit him and Benjamin to go forth +and shift for themselves in the country until the terrible +visitation was past. + +The father listened with a grave face. He too began to have a great +fear that the whole city was doomed to be swept away, and although +upheld in his resolve to do his duty, so long as he was able, by +his strong and fervent faith in the goodness and mercy of God, he +was disposed to the opinion that all who remained would in turn be +carried off victims to the fearful pestilence. Had he known from +the beginning how terrible it would become in time, he sometimes +said to himself, he would at least have made shift to send his +family away; but now that they were engrossed in works of piety and +charity, he could not feel it right to bid them cease their labours +of love, nor did he feel any temptation to quit his own post. Yet +this made him the more ready to listen to the eager petition of his +boys, and to consider the project which had formed itself in the +quick brain of Joseph. + +"Father, I have thought of it so much these past days. We are sound +in health. Thou couldst get us the papers without which men say +none can pass the watch upon the roads. With them we can sally +forth, with a small provision of money and food, and make our way +either by boat to the farm at Greenwich where the other 'prentice +boys live, and where there would be a welcome for us always, or +else northward to our aunt beyond Islington, who will be hungering +for news of us, and who will be rejoiced, I am very sure, to give +us a welcome and to hear of the welfare of all, even though we come +to her from the land of the shadow of death." + +"Ay, verily do ye!" exclaimed the father, whose phrase Joseph had +picked up and quoted. "Heaven send that my poor sister be yet +numbered among the living. I know not whether the fell disease has +wrought havoc beyond the limits of the city in that direction; but +at the first it raged more fiercely north and west than with us, +and God alone knows who are taken and who are left!" + +"Then, father, may we go?" asked Benjamin, eagerly. + +The father looked from one boy to the other with the glance of one +who thinks he may be looking his last upon some loved face. Men had +begun to grow used to the thought that when they left their homes +in the morning they might return to them no more, or that they +might return to find that one or more of their dear ones had been +struck down and carried off in the course of a few hours. So +terrible was the malignity of the disease, that often death +supervened after a few hours, although others would linger--often +in terrible suffering--for many days before death (or much more +rarely, recovery) relieved them of their pain. This good man knew +that if he let the lads go, he might never see them again. He or +they might be victims before they met, and might see each other's +face no more upon earth. + +Yet he did not oppose the boys' plan. He knew how bad for them was +this shut-up life, and how the very sense of fret and compulsory +inactivity might predispose them to the contagion. If they could +once get beyond the limits of the city, they might be far safer +than they could be here. It would be a relief to have them gone--to +think of them as living in safety in the fresh air of the country. +Moreover, it pleased him to think of sending a message of loving +assurance to his favourite sister, who dwelt in the open country +beyond the hamlet of Islington. He felt assured that if she still +lived she would have a warm welcome for his boys; and if the lads +were well provided with money and wholesome food, they had wits +enough to take care of themselves for a while, until they had found +some asylum. In all the surrounding villages, as he well knew, were +only too many empty houses and cottages. He knew that there was +risk; but there was risk everywhere, and he felt sympathy with the +lads for their eager desire to get free of their prison. + +The mother felt more fear, but she never interfered with the +decisions of her husband. Her tears fell as she packed up in very +small compass a few articles of clothing and some provisions for +the lads. Their father furnished them with money, the bulk of which +was sewn up in their clothing, and with those health passes which +were so needful for those leaving the infected city. + +The summer's night was really the best time in which to commence a +journey. The heat of the streets by day was intolerable, the danger +of encountering infected persons was greater, whilst although it +was at night that the dead carts went about, these could be easily +avoided, as the warning bell and mournful cry gave ample notice of +their approach. + +Last thing of all, after the boys had partaken of an ample supper, +and had shed a few natural tears at the thought that it might be +the last meal ever eaten beneath the roof of the old home, the +father knelt down and commended them solemnly to the care of Him in +whose hands alone lay the issues of life and death. Then he blessed +the boys individually, charged them to take every reasonable care, +and finally escorted them down to the door, which he carefully +opened, and after ascertaining that the road was quite clear, he +walked with them as far as the end of the bridge, and dismissed +them on their way with another blessing. + +Much sobered by the scenes through which they had passed, yet not a +little elated by the quick and successful issue to their demand, +the boys looked each other in the face by the light of the great +yellow moon, and nipped each other by the hand to make sure it was +not all a dream. + +How strange the sleeping city looked beneath that pale white light! +The boys had hardly ever been abroad after nightfall, and never +during this sad strange time, when even by day all was so different +from what they had been used to see. Now it did indeed look like a +city of the dead, for not even an idle roisterer, or a drunkard +stumbling homewards with uncertain gait, was to be seen. The +watchmen, sleeping or trying to sleep within the porches or upon +the doorsteps of certain houses, were the only living beings to be +seen; and even they were few and far between in this locality, for +almost every house was shut up and empty, the inhabitants of many +having fled before the distemper became so bad, and others having +all died off, leaving the houses utterly vacant. + +"Let us go and see the house where Janet and Rebecca and Mistress +Gertrude dwell," said Benjamin, as they watched their father's +figure vanish in the distance, and felt themselves quite alone in +the world; "perchance one of them may be waking, and may look forth +from the window if we throw up a pebble. I would fain say a +farewell word to them ere we go forth, for who knows whether we may +see them again?" + +"Ay, verily, we may be dead or else they," said Joseph, but in the +tone of one who has grown used to the thought. "This way then; the +house lies hard by, next door to my Lady Scrope's. Who would have +thought that that cross old madwoman would have turned so kindly +disposed towards the poor and sick as she hath done?" + +There were many amongst her former friends and acquaintances who +would have asked that question, had they been there to ask it. Lady +Scrope had never been credited with charitable feelings; and yet it +was her doing that a large house, her own property, next door to +the small one she chose to inhabit, had been made over to the +magistrates and authorities of the city at this time, for the +housing of orphaned children whose parents had perished of the +plague, and who were thrown upon the charity of strangers, or upon +those entrusted with the care of the city at this crisis. + +True, the house was standing empty and desolate. Its tenants had +fled, taking their goods with them. All that was left of plenishing +belonged to Lady Scrope. Pallets were easily provided by the +officers of health, and the place was speedily filled with little +children, who were tenderly cared for by Gertrude, Janet, and +Rebecca (who had joined her sister in this labour of love), all +three having given themselves up to this work, and finding their +hands too full to desire other occupation abroad. + +Joseph and Benjamin had of course heard all about this, and knew +exactly where to find the house. It was marked with the red cross, +for, as was inevitable, many of the little inmates were carried off +by the fell disease after admission, and the numbers were +constantly thinning and being replaced by fresh ones. But hitherto +the nurses themselves had been spared, and toiled on unremittingly +at their self-chosen work. + +There was no watchman at the door as the boys stole up, but they +had scarcely been there ten seconds before a window was thrown up, +and Janet's voice was heard exclaiming, "Andrew, art thou yet +returned?" + +"There is nobody here, sister," answered Joseph, "save Ben and me. +We are come to say farewell, for we are going forth this night from +the city, to seek safety with our aunt in Islington. Can we do +aught for you ere we go?" + +"Alas, it is the dead cart of which we have need tonight," answered +Janet. "We sent the watchman for physic, but it is needed no +longer. The little ones are dead already--three of them, and only +one ill this morning. + +"Ah, brothers, glad am I to hear ye be going. God send you safety +and health; and forget not to pray for us in the city when ye are +far away. May He soon see fit to remove His chastening hand! It is +hard to see the little ones suffer." + +Janet's voice was quiet and calm, but Benjamin burst into tears at +the sound of her words, and at the thought of the little dead +children; but she leaned out and said kindly: + +"Nay, nay, weep not, Ben, boy; let us think that they are taken in +mercy from the evil to come. But linger not here, dear brothers. +Who knows that contagion may not dwell in the very air? Go forth +with what speed you may. + +"Ah, there is the bell! The cart is on its way! And here comes good +Andrew back. Now he will do all that we need. Fare you well, +brothers. Rebecca is sleeping tonight, and I would not wake her. I +will give her your farewell love tomorrow." + +She waved them away, and they withdrew; but a species of +fascination kept them hanging round the spot. Moreover, they feared +to meet the death cart in that narrow thoroughfare, and the porch +of the church of Allhallowes the Less was in close proximity. The +iron gate was open, and they were quickly able to hide themselves +in the porch, from whence by peeping out they could see all that +passed. + +Nearer and nearer came the sound of the rumbling wheels and the +bell, and now the cry, "Bring forth your dead! bring forth your +dead!" was clearly to be heard through the still air. Round the +corner came the strange conveyance, drawn by two weary-looking +horses; and at some signal from the inmates it drew up at the door +of the house in front of which the boys had been standing a minute +before. + +The watchman brought out three little shrouded forms. They were +laid upon the top of the awful pile, and the cart with its heavy +load rumbled away, the bell no longer ringing, because there was no +room for more upon that journey. + +The boys stood with hands closely locked together, for although +they had heard of these things before, they had never seen the +sight. Their bedroom at home looked out upon the river, and the +dead cart only went about at night. They trembled at the thought +which came to them, that had they been numbered amongst the dead +during this terrible visitation they too had been carried in that +fashion to their last resting place. + +"Come, Ben, let us be going," said Joseph, recovering himself +first; "we need not linger in the city if we like it not. There may +be strange things to see in all truth; but if we have no stomach +for them, why let us make our way northward with all speed. We can +leave all this behind us by daybreak an we will." + +Taking hands, and feeling their courage return as they walked on, +the brothers passed along the silent streets. Sometimes a window +would be opened from above, and a doleful voice would cry aloud in +grief or anguish of mind, or some command would be shouted to the +watchman beneath, or there would be a piercing cry for the dead +cart as it rumbled by. The boys at last grew used to the sound of +the bell and the wheels. Go where they would they could not avoid +hearing one or another as the men went about their dismal errand. +It seemed less terrible after a time than it had done at first, and +the bold spirit within them came back. + +They wended their way northward, avoiding the narrower +thoroughfares and keeping to the broader streets. Even these were +often very narrow and ill smelling, so that the brothers had +recourse to their vinegar bottle or swallowed a spoonful of Venice +treacle before venturing down. Once they were forced to turn aside +out of their way to avoid a heap of corpses that had been brought +out from a narrow alley to wait for the cart. They had heard of +such things before, but to see them was tenfold more terrible. Yet +the spirit of adventure took possession of them as they passed +along, and they were less afraid even of the most terrible things +than they had been of lesser ones at starting. + +In passing near to the little church of St. Margaret's, Lothbury, +they were attracted by the sound of a voice crying out as if in +excitement or fear. Being filled with curiosity in spite of their +fears, they turned in the direction of the sound, and came upon a +man clutching hard at the railings of the little churchyard, which +like all others in that part was now filled to overflowing, and +closed for burials, the dead being taken to the great pits dug in +various places. Night though it was, there was a small crowd of +persons gathered round the railings, all peering in with eager +faces, whilst the voice of the man at the corner kept calling out: + +"See! see! there she goes! She stands there by yon tall tombstone +waving her arms over her head! Now she is wringing her hands, and +weeping again. + +"O my wife, my wife! do you not know me? I am here, Margaret, I am +here! Weep not for the children who are dead; weep for unhappy me, +who am left alive. Ay, it is for the living that men should weep +and howl. The dead are at peace--their troubles are over; but our +agony is yet to come. + +"Margaret! Margaret! look at me! pity me! + +"Ah, she will not hear! She turns away! See, she is gliding hither +and thither seeking the graves of her children-- + +"Margaret! I could not help it. They would not let them lie beside +thee! They took them away in the cart. I would have sprung in after +them, but they held me back. + +"Ah, woe is me! woe is me! There is no place for me either among +the living or the dead. All turn from me alike!" + +The tears rolled down the poor man's face, his voice was choked +with sobs. He still continued to point and to cry out, and to +address some imaginary being whom he declared was wandering amongst +the tombs. The boys pressed near to look, for some in the crowd +suddenly made exclamations as though they had caught a glimpse of +the phantom; but look as they would the brothers saw nothing, and +Joseph asked of an elderly man in the little crowd what it all +meant. + +"Methinks it means only that yon poor fellow has lost his reason," +he answered, shaking his head. "His wife was one of the first to +die when the distemper broke out; and men called it only a fever, +though some said she had the tokens on her. She was buried here. +And it is but a week since the last of his children was taken--six +in two weeks; and he has escaped out of his house, and wanders +about the streets, and comes here every night, saying that he sees +his dead wife, and that she is looking for her children, and cannot +find them because they are lying in the plague pit. He is +distraught, poor fellow; but many men gather night by night to hear +him. + +"For my part, I will come no more. Men are best at home in their +own houses; and you lads had best go home as fast as you can. It is +no place and no hour for boys to be abroad." + +Joseph and Benjamin said a civil goodnight to the man, and taking +hands bent their steps northward once again. They were now close to +the open Moor Fields; and although there was still another region +of houses to be passed upon the other side, they felt that when +once they had passed the gate and the walls they should have left +the worst of the peril behind them. + + + +CHAPTER X. WITHOUT THE WALLS. + + +Only one trifling incident befell the boys before they found +themselves without the city gate. They were proceeding down Coleman +Street towards Moor Gate, where they knew they should have to show +their pass, and perhaps have some slight trouble in getting +through, and were rehearsing such things as they had decided to +tell the guard at the gate, when the sound of a dismal howling +smote upon their ears, and they paused to look about them, for the +street was very still, and almost every house seemed deserted and +empty. + +The sound came again, and Joseph remarked: + +"'Tis some poor dog who perchance has lost master and home. There +be only too many such in the city they say. They throw them by +scores into the river to be rid of them; but I have heard father +say that it is an ill thing to do, and likely to spread the +contagion instead of checking it. Alive, the poor beasts do no ill; +but their carcasses poison both the water and the air. Beshrew me, +but he makes a doleful wailing!" + +Going on cautiously through the darkness, for the moon was veiled +behind some clouds, the brothers presently saw, lying just outside +a shut-up house, a long still form wrapped in a winding sheet, put +out ready for one of the many carts that passed up the street on +the way to the great pits in Bunhill and Finsbury Fields. Whether +the corpse was that of a man or a woman the boys could not tell. +They made a circuit round it to avoid passing near. + +But beside the still figure squatted a little dog of the turnspit +variety, and he was awakening the echoes of the quiet street by his +lugubrious howls. + +Both the brothers were fond of animals, and particularly of dogs, +and they paused after having passed by, and tried to get the +creature to come to them; but though he paused for a moment in his +wailing, and even wagged his tail as though in gratitude for the +kind words spoken, he would not leave his post beside the corpse, +and the boys had perforce to go on their way. + +"The dumb brute could teach a lesson in charity to many a human +being," remarked Joseph, gravely; "he will not leave his dead +master, and they too often flee away even from the living. Poor +creature, how mournful are his cries! I would that we could comfort +him." + +At the gate they were stopped and questioned. They told a +straightforward and truthful tale; their pass was examined and +found correct; and their father's name being widely known and +respected for his untiring labours in the city at this time, the +boys were treated civilly enough and wished God speed and a safe +return. They were the more quickly dismissed that the sound of +wheels rumbling up to the gate made itself heard, and the guard +darted hastily away into his shelter. + +"These plague carts will be the death of us, passing continually +all the night through with their load," he said. "Best be gone +before it comes through, lads. It carries death in its train." + +The boys were glad enough to make off, and found themselves for the +time being free of houses in the pleasant open Moor Fields, which +were familiar to them as the favourite gathering place of shopmen +and apprentices on all high days and holidays. The moon shone down +brightly again, although near her setting now; but before long the +dawn would begin to lighten in the east, and the boys cared no whit +for the semi-darkness of a summer's night. + +Behind them still came the rumble of wheels, and they drew aside to +let the cart pass with its dreadful cargo. Behind it ran a small +black object, and Benjamin exclaimed: + +"It is the little dog! O brother, let us follow and see what +becomes of him!" + +The strange curiosity to see the burying place, which tempted only +too many to their death in those perilous days, was upon Joseph at +that moment. He desired greatly to see one of those plague pits, +and to watch the emptying of the cart at its mouth. Forgetting +their father's warnings, the brothers ran quickly after the cart, +which was easily kept in view, and soon saw it halt and turn round +at a spot where they could discern the outline of a great mound of +earth, and the black yawning mouth of what they knew must be the +pit. + +Half terrified, half fascinated, they gripped each other by the +hand and crept step by step nearer. They took care to keep to the +windward of the pit, and were getting very near to it when the air +was rent by another of the doleful cries which they had heard +before, but which sounded so strange and mournful here that they +stopped short in terror at the noise. It seemed even to affect the +nerves of the bearers, for one of them exclaimed: + +"It is that cur again, who has left the marks of his teeth in my +hand. If I could but get near him with my cudgel, he should never +howl again." + +"I thought we had rid ourselves of the brute, but he must have +followed us. A plague upon his doleful voice! They say that it +bodes ill to hear a dog's howl at night. Perchance he will leap +down into the pit after his master. We will take good care he comes +not forth again if he does that." + +With these words the rough fellows turned to the cart, which was +now at the edge of the pit, and finished the rude burial which was +all that could in those days be given to the dead. Every now and +then one of the men would aim a heavy stone at the poor dog, who +sat on the edge of the pit howling dismally. The creature, however, +was never hit, for he kept a respectful distance from his enemies. + +Their work done, the men got into the cart and drove away, without +having noticed the two boys crouching beside the pile of soil in +the shadow. The dog began running backwards and forwards along the +edge of the pit, which being only lately dug was still deep, though +filling up very fast in these terrible days of drought and heat. + +The boys rose up and called to him kindly. He did not notice them +at first, but finally came, and looked up in their faces with +appealing eyes, as though he begged of them to give him back his +master. + +"Touch him not, Ben," said Joseph to his brother, who would have +taken the dog into his embrace, "he has been in a plague stricken +house. Let us coax him to yon pool, and wash him there; and then, +if he will go with us, we will take him and welcome. It may be he +will be a safeguard from danger; and it would be sorrowful indeed +to leave him here." + +The dog was divided in mind between watching the pit's mouth and +going with the kindly-spoken boys, who coaxed and called to him; +but at last it seemed as though the loneliness of the place, and +the natural instinct of the canine mind to follow something human, +prevailed over the other instinct of watching for the return of his +master from this strange resting place. Perhaps the journey in the +cart and the promiscuous burial had confused the poor beast's mind +as to whether indeed his master lay there at all. With many wistful +glances backwards, he still followed the boys; and when they paused +at length beside a spring of fresh water, he needed little urging +to jump in and refresh himself with a bath, emerging thence in +better spirits and ravenously hungry, as they quickly found when +they opened their wallet and partook of a part of the excellent +provisions packed up for them by their mother. + +The young travellers were by this time both tired and sleepy, and +finding near by a soft mossy bank, they lay down and were quickly +asleep, whilst the dog curled himself up contentedly at their feet +and slept also. + +When the boys awoke the sun was up, although it was still early +morning. They were bewildered for a few moments to know where they +were, but memory quickly returned to them, and with it a sense of +exhilaration at being no longer cooped up within the walls of a +house, but out in the open country, with the world before them and +the plague-stricken city behind. Even the presence of the dog, who +proved to be a handsome and intelligent member of his race, black +and tan in colour, with appealing eyes and a quick comprehension of +what was spoken to him, added greatly to the pleasure of the lads. +They gave their new companion the name of Fido, as a tribute to his +affection for his dead master; but they were very well pleased that +he did not carry his fidelity to the pass of remaining behind by +the great pit when they started forth to pursue their way to their +aunt's house beyond Islington. + +Fido ran backwards and forwards for a while whining and looking +pathetically sorrowful; but after the boys had coaxed and caressed +him, and had explained many times over that his master could not +possibly come back, he seemed to resign himself to the inevitable, +and trotted at their heels with drooping tail, but with gratitude +in his eyes whenever they paused to caress him or give him a kind +word. + +And they were glad enough of his company along the road, for from +time to time they met groups of very rough-looking men prowling +about as though in search of plunder. Some of these fellows eyed +the wallets carried by the boys with covetous glances; but on such +occasions Fido invariably placed himself in front of his young +masters, and with flashing eyes and bristling back plainly +intimated that he was there to protect them, whilst the gleaming +rows of shining teeth which he displayed when he curled up his lips +in a threatening snarl seemed to convince all parties that it was +better not to provoke him to anger. + +The more open parts of the region without the walls looked very +strange to the boys as they journeyed onwards. Numbers of tents +were to be seen dotted about Finsbury and Moor Fields and whole +families were living there in the hope of escaping contagion. +Country people from regions about came daily with their produce to +supply the needs of these nomads; and it was curious to see the +precautions taken on both sides to avoid personal contact. The +villagers would deposit their goods upon large stones set up for +the purpose; and after they had retired to a little distance, some +persons from the tents or scattered houses would come and take the +produce, depositing payment for it in a jar of vinegar set there to +receive it. After it had thus lain a short time, the vendor would +come and take it thence; but some were so cautious that they would +not place it in purse or pocket till they had passed it through the +fire of a little brazier which they had with them. + +Nor was it to be wondered at that the country folks were thus +cautious, for the contagion had spread throughout all the +surrounding districts, and every village had its tale of woe to +tell. At first the people had been kind and compassionate enough in +welcoming and harbouring apparently sound persons fleeing from the +city of destruction; but when again and again it happened that the +wayfarer died that same night of the plague in the house which had +received him, and infected many of those who had showed him +kindness, so that sometimes a whole family was swept away in two or +three days, it was no wonder that they were afraid of offering +hospitality to wayfarers, and preferred that these persons should +encamp at a distance from them, though they were willing to supply +them with the necessaries of life at reasonable charges. It must be +spoken to the credit of the country people at this time, that they +did not raise the price of provisions, as might have been expected, +seeing the risk they ran in taking them to the city. There was no +scarcity and hardly any advance in price throughout the dismal time +of visitation. This was doubtless due, in part, to the wise and +able measures taken by the magistrates and city corporations; but +it also redounds to the credit of the villagers, that they did not +strive to enrich themselves through the misfortunes of their +neighbours. + +The boys were glad to purchase fruit and milk for a light +breakfast; and their fresh open faces and tender years seemed to +give them favour wherever they went. They were not shunned, as some +travellers found themselves at this time, but were admitted to +several farm houses on their way, and regaled plentifully, whilst +they told their tale to a circle of breathless listeners. + +Sometimes they were stopped upon the way by the men told off to +watch the roads, and turn back any coming from the city who had not +the proper pass of health. But the boys, being duly provided with +this, were always suffered to proceed after some parley. They +began, however, to understand how difficult a thing it had now +become to escape from the infected city; and several times they saw +travellers turned back because their passes were dated a few days +back, and the guard declared it impossible to know what infection +they had encountered since. + +Very sad indeed were these poor creatures at being, as it were, +sent back to their death. For it began to be rumoured all about the +city that not a living creature would escape who remained there. It +was said that God's judgments had gone forth, and that the whole +place would be given over to destruction, even as Sodom, and that +none who remained in it would be left alive. + +This sort of talk made the brothers very anxious and sorrowful, +but, as Joseph sought to remind his brother, the people who said +these things had nothing better to go by than the prognostications +of old women or quacks and astrologers, whom their father had +taught them to disbelieve. He had always taught them that God alone +knew the future and the thing that He would do, and that it was +folly and presumption on the part of man to seek to penetrate His +counsels, and venture to prophesy things which He had not revealed. +So they plucked up heart, these two youthful wayfarers, firmly +believing that God would take care of their father and all those +who were working in the cause of mercy and charity in the great +city, and that they could leave the issues of these things in His +hands. + +Since the day was very hot, and they were somewhat weary with their +long walk and short night, they lay down at noontide in a little +wood, not more than three miles from their aunt's house in +Islington, and there they slept again, with Fido at their feet, +until the sun was far in the west, and they were ready to finish +their journey in the cool freshness of the evening. + +They had come by no means the nearest way, but had fetched a wide +circuit, so as to avoid, as far as possible, all regions of +outlying houses. Time was no particular object to them, so that +they reached their destination by nightfall; and now they were +quite in the open country, and delighting in the pure air and the +rural sights and sounds. + +Yet even here all was not so happy and smiling as appeared from the +face of nature. The corn was standing ripe for the sickle, but in +too many districts there were not hands enough to reap it. One +beautiful field of wheat which the brothers passed was shedding the +golden grain from the ripened ears, and flocks of birds were +gathering it up. When they passed the farmstead they saw the reason +for this. Not a sign of life was there about the place. No cattle +lowed, no dog barked; and an old crone who sat by the wayside with +a bundle of ripe ears in her lap shook her head as she saw the +wondering faces of the boys, and said: + +"All dead and gone! all dead and gone! Alive one day--dead the +next! The plague carried them off, every one of them, harvest hands +and all. They say it was the men who came to cut the corn that +brought it. But who can tell? They got yon field in"--pointing to +one where the golden stubble was to be seen short and compact--"but +half were dead ere ever it was down; and then the sickness fell +upon the house, and of those who did not fly not one remains. Lord +have mercy upon us! We be all dead men if He come not to our aid. +Who knows whose turn may come next?" + +Truly the shadow of death seemed everywhere. But the boys were so +used to dismal tales of wholesale devastation that one more or less +did not seem greatly to matter. Perhaps the contrast was the more +sharp out here between the smiling landscape and the silent, +shut-up house; but the chief fear which beset them was lest their +kind aunt should have been taken by death, in which case they +scarcely knew what would become of themselves. + +They hastened their steps as they entered the familiar lane where +nestled the thatched cottage in which their aunt had her abode. +Mary Harmer was their father's youngest and favourite sister. Once +she had made one of the home party on the bridge; but that was long +before the boys could remember. That was in the lifetime of their +grandparents, and before the old people resigned their business to +the able hands of their son James, and came into the country to +live. + +The grandfather of Joseph and Benjamin had built this cottage, and +he and his wife had lived in it from that time till the day of +their death. Their daughter Mary remained still in the pretty, +commodious place--if indeed she had not died during the time of the +visitation. The children all loved their Aunt Mary, and esteemed a +visit to her house as one of the greatest of privileges. + +Benjamin, who was rather delicate, had once passed six months +together here, and was called by Mary Harmer "her boy." He grew +excited as he marked every familiar turn in the shady lane; and +when at last the thatched roof of the rose-covered cottage came in +sight, he uttered a shout of excitement and ran hastily forward. + +The diamond lattice panes were shining with their accustomed +cleanliness. There was no sign of neglect about the bright little +house. The door stood open to the sunshine and the breeze; and at +the sound of Benjamin's cry, a figure in a neat cotton gown and +large apron appeared suddenly in the doorway, whilst a familiar +voice exclaimed: "Now God be praised! it is my own boy. Two of +them! Thank Heaven for so much as this!" and running down the +garden path, Mary Harmer folded both the lads in her arms, tears +coursing down her cheeks the while. + +"God bless them! God bless them! How I have longed for news of you +all! What news from home bring you, dear lads? I tremble almost to +ask, but be it what it may, two of you are alive and well; and in +times like these we must needs learn to say, 'Thy will be done!'" + +"We are all alive, we are all well!" cried Joseph, hastening to +relieve the worst of his aunt's fears. "Some say ours is almost the +only house in London where there be not one dead. I scarce know if +that be true. One or two of us have been sick, and some say that +Janet and Dan have both had a touch of the distemper; but they soon +were sound again. They all go about amongst the sick. Father has +been one of the examiners all the time through; and though they +only appoint them for a month, he will not give up his office. He +says that so long as he and his family are preserved, so long will +he strive to do his duty towards his fellow men. There be many like +him--our good Lord Mayor for one; and my Lord Craven, who will not +fly, as almost all the great ones have done, but stays to help to +govern the city wisely, and to see that the alms are distributed +aright to the poor at this season. + +"But there was naught for us to do. We were too young to be bearers +or searchers, and boys cannot tend the sick. So we grew weary past +bearing of the shut-up house, and yestereve our father gave us +leave to sally forth and seek news of thee, good aunt. And oh, we +are right glad to find ourselves out of the city and safe with +thee!" + +Joseph spoke on, because Mary Harmer was weeping so plenteously +with joy and gratitude that she had no words in which to answer +him. She had not dared to hope that she should see again any of the +dear faces of her kinsfolk. True, the distemper was yet raging +fiercely, and none could say when the end would come; but it was +much to know that they had lived in safety through these many +weeks. It seemed to the pious woman as though God had given her a +sort of pledge of His special mercy to her and hers, and that He +would not now fail them. + +She led the boys into her pretty, cheerful cottage, and set them +down to the table, where she quickly had a plentiful meal set +before them. Fido's pathetic story was told, and he was caressed +and fed in a fashion that altogether won his heart. He made them +all laugh at his method of showing gratitude; for he walked up to +the fire before which a bit of meat was cooking, and plainly +intimated his desire to be allowed to turn the spit if they would +give him the needful convenience. This being done by the handy +Benjamin, he set to his task with the greatest readiness, and the +boys quite forgot all their sorrowful thoughts in the entertainment +of watching Fido turn the spit. + +Long did they sit at table, eating with the healthy appetite of +growing lads, and answering their aunt's minute questions as to the +welfare of every member of the household. Greatly was she +interested in the home for desolate children provided by Lady +Scrope, and ordered by her nieces and Gertrude. She told the boys +that her house had often been used to shelter homeless and +destitute persons, whom charity forbade her to send away. Just now +she was alone; but even then she was not idle, for all round in the +open fields and woods persons of all conditions were living +encamped, and some of these had hardly the necessaries of life. Out +of her own modest abundance, Mary Harmer supplied food and clothing +to numbers of poor creatures, who might otherwise be in danger of +perishing; and she bid the boys be ready to help her in her labour +of love, because she had ofttimes more to do than one pair of hands +could accomplish, and her little serving girl had run off in alarm +the very first time she opened her door to a poor sick lady with an +infant in her arms, who had escaped from the city only to die out +in the country. It was not the plague that carried her off, but +lung disease of long standing, and the infant did not survive its +mother many days. + +"But it frightened Sally away, poor child, just as if it had been +the sickness; and I have since heard that she was taken with it a +month ago in her own home, and that every one there died within +three days. These be terrible times! But we know they are sent by +God, and that He will help us through them; and surely, I think, it +cannot be His will that we turn a deaf ear to the plaints of the +afflicted, and think of naught but our own safety. I have work and +enough to do, and will find you enough to fill your hands, boys. It +was a happy thought indeed which sent you two hither to me." + + + +CHAPTER XI. LOVE IN DIFFICULTIES. + + +"It means that I am a ruined man, my poor girl!" + +"Ruined! O father, how can that be? Methought you were a man of +much substance. Mother always said so." + +Gertrude looked anxiously into the careworn face of her father, +which had greatly changed during the past weeks. He paid her +occasional visits in her self-chosen home, being one of those who +had ceased to fear contagion, and went about almost without +precaution, from sheer indifference to the long-continued peril. He +had been a changed man ever since the melancholy deaths of his son +and his wife; but today a darker cloud than any she had seen there +before rested upon his brow, and the daughter was anxious to learn +the reason of it. This it was which had wrung from the Master +Builder the foregoing confession. + +"Your poor mother was partly right, and partly wrong. I might have +been a rich man, I might be a rich man even now--terrible as is the +state of trade in this stricken city--had it not been that she +would have me adventure beyond my means in her haste to see me +wealthy before my fellows. And the end of it is that I stand here +today a ruined man!" + +Gertrude held in her arms a little child, over whom she bent from +time to time to assure herself that it slept. Her face had grown +pale and thin during her long confinement between the walls of this +house; yet it was a happier and more contented face than it had +been wont to be in the days when she lived in luxurious idleness at +her mother's side. She looked many years older than she had done +then, but there was a beauty and sweet serenity about her +appearance now which had not been visible in the days of old. + +"What has happened during this sad time to ruin you, dear father?" +asked Gertrude gently, guessing that it would ease his heart to +talk of his troubles. "Is it the sudden stoppage of all trade?" + +"That has been serious enough. It would have done much harm had +that been the only thing, but there be many, many other causes. +Thou art too young and unversed in the ways of business to +understand all; but I was not content to grow rich in the course of +business alone. I had ventures of all sorts afloat--on sea and on +land; and through the death of patrons, through the sudden stoppage +of all trade, numbers and numbers of these have come to no good. My +money is lost; my loans cannot be recovered. Men are dead or fled +to whom I looked for payment. Half-finished houses are thrown back +on my hands, since half London is empty. And poor Frederick's debts +are like the sands upon the seashore. I cannot meet them, but I +cannot let others suffer for his imprudence and folly. The old +house on the bridge will have to go. I must needs sell it so soon +as a purchaser can be found. It may be I shall have to hand it over +to one of Frederick's creditors bodily. I had thought to end my +days there in peace, with my children's children round me. But the +Almighty is dealing very bitterly with me. Wife and son are taken +away, and now the old home must follow!" + +Gertrude, who knew his great love for the house in which he had +been born, well understood what a fearful wrench this would be, and +her heart overflowed with compassion. + +"O father! must it be so? Is there no way else? Methought you had +stores of costly goods laid by in your warehouses. Surely the sale +of those things would save you from this last step!" + +The Master Builder smiled a little bitterly. + +"Truly is it said that wealth takes to itself wings in days of +adversity. I myself thought as you do, child--at least in part; and +today I visited my warehouses, to look over my goods and see what +there were to fetch when men will dare to buy things which have +lain within the walls of this doomed city all these months. I had +the keys of the place. I myself locked them up when the plague +forced me to close my warehouse and dismiss my men. I saw all made +sure, as I thought, with my own eyes. But what think you I found +there today?" + +"O father! what?" asked Gertrude, and yet she divined the answer +all too well; for she had heard stories of robbery and daring +wickedness even during this season of judgment and punishment which +prepared her for the worst. + +"That the whole place had been plundered; that there was nothing +left of any price whatever. Thieves have broken in during this time +of panic, and have despoiled me of the value of thousands of +pounds. Whilst my mind has been full of other matters, my worldly +wealth has been swept away. I stand here before you a ruined man. +And like enough the very miscreants who have used this time of +public calamity for plunder and lawlessness may be lying by this +time in the common grave. But that will not give my property back +to me." + +"Alas, father, these are indeed evil days! But has no watch been +kept upon the streets that such acts can be done by the evil +disposed? Is all property in the city at the mercy of the violent +and wicked?" + +"Only too much has vanished that same way, as I have heard from +many. Some owners are themselves gone where they will need their +valuables no more, and others were careful to remove all they had +to their own houses, or they themselves lived over their goods and +could guard them by their presence. That is where my error lay. I +gave your mother her will in this. She liked not the shop beneath, +and I stored my goods elsewhere. Poor woman, she is dead and gone; +we will speak no hard things of her weaknesses and follies. But had +she lived to see this day, she had grievously lamented her resolve +to have naught about her to remind her of buying and selling." + +"Ah, poor mother! I often think it was the happiest thing for her +to be taken ere these fearful things came to pass. The terror would +well nigh have driven her distracted. Methinks she would have died +of sheer fright. But, father, is all lost past recovery? Can none +of the watch or of the constables tell you aught, or help you to +recover aught?" + +"Ah, child, in these days of death, who is to know so much as where +to carry one's questions? Watchmen and constables have died and +changed a score of times in the past two months. The magistrates do +their best to keep order in the city, but who can fight against the +odds of such a time as this? The very men employed as watchmen may +be the thieves themselves. They have to take the services of almost +any who offer. It is no time to pick and choose. I carried my story +to the Lord Mayor himself, and he gave me sympathy and pity; but to +look for the robbers is a hopeless task. It is most like that the +plague pits have received them ere now. The mortality in the lower +parts of the city is more fearful than it has ever been, and it +seems as though the summer heats would never end. Belike I shall be +taken next, and then it will matter little that my fortune has +taken unto itself wings." + +Gertrude came and bent over him with a soft caress. + +"Say not so, dear father. God has preserved us all this while. Let +us not distrust His love and goodness now." + +"It might be the greater mercy," answered the Master Builder in a +depressed voice. "I am too old to start life again with nothing but +my broken credit for capital. As for you, child, your future is +assured. I could leave you happy in that thought. You would want +for nothing." + +Gertrude raised her eyes wonderingly to her father's face. She had +laid the sleeping child in its cot, and had taken a place at her +father's feet. + +"What mean you, father?" she asked. "I have only you in the wide +world now. If you were to die, I should be both orphaned and +destitute. What mean you by speaking of my future thus? Whom have I +in the wide world besides yourself?" + +The father passed his hand over her curly hair, and answered with a +sigh and a smile: + +"Surely, child, thou dost know by this time that the heart of +Reuben Harmer is all thine own. He worships the very ground on +which thou dost tread. His father and I have spoken of it. Fortune +has dealt more kindly with our neighbours than with me. Good James +Harmer has laid by money, while I have adventured it rashly in the +hope of large returns. This calamity has but checked his work for +these months; when the scourge is past, he will reopen business +once more, and will find himself but little the poorer. He is a +wiser man than I have been; and his wife and sons have all been +helpful to him. The love of Reuben Harmer is my assurance for thy +future welfare. Thou wilt never want so long as they have a roof +over their heads. + +"Nay, now what ails thee, child? Why dost thou spring up and look +at me like that?" + +For Gertrude's usually tranquil face was ablaze now with all manner +of conflicting emotions. She seemed for a moment almost too +agitated to speak, and when she could command herself there were +traces of great emotion in her voice. + +"Father, father!" she cried, "how can you thus shame me? You must +know with what unmerited scorn and contumely Reuben was treated by +poor mother when it was we who were rich and they who were (in her +belief, at least) poor. She would scarce let him cross the +threshold of our house. I have tingled with shame at the way in +which she spoke of and to him. Frederick openly insulted him at +pleasure. Every slight was heaped upon him; and he was once told to +his very face that he might look elsewhere for a wife, for that my +fortune was to win me the hand of some needy Court gallant. Yes, +father, I heard with my own ears those very words spoken--save that +the term 'needy' was added in mine own heart. Oh, I could have +shrunk into the earth with shame. And after all this, after all +these insults and aspersions heaped upon him in the day of our +prosperity--am I to be made over to him penniless and needy, +without a shilling of dowry? Am I to be thrown upon his generosity +in my hour of poverty, when I was denied to him in my day of +supposed wealth? + +"Father, father! I cannot, I will not permit it. I can work for my +own bread if needs must be. But I will not owe it to the generosity +of Reuben Harmer, after all that has passed. I should be humbled to +the very dust!" + +The Master Builder looked at his daughter in amaze. He had never +seen Gertrude quite so moved before. + +"Why, child," he exclaimed in astonishment. "I always thought that +thou hadst a liking for the youth!" + +Then at that word Gertrude burst suddenly into tears and cried: + +"I love him as mine own soul, and I am not ashamed to own it. But +that is the very reason why I will have none of him now. I will not +be thrown upon his generosity like a bundle of damaged goods. Let +him seek a wife who can bring him a modest fortune with her, and +who has never been scornfully denied to him before. O father! can +you not see that I can never consent to be his now? + +"O mother, mother! why did you do me this ill?" + +The father felt that the situation had got beyond him. Never much +versed in the ways of women, he was fairly puzzled by his +daughter's strange method of taking his confidence. He knew, of +course, of the tactics of his wife, which he had deplored at the +time, though he had been unable to bring her to a better frame of +mind; but since the young people liked each other, and since madam +was in her grave, it seemed absurd to let a shadow stand between +them and their happiness. Perhaps if left to herself Gertrude would +reach that conclusion of her own accord, and the Master Builder +rose to go without pressing the matter further. + +Gertrude, left alone, was weeping silently and bitterly beside the +child's cot, when she was aware of a little short laugh almost at +her elbow, and a familiar voice said in sharp accents: + +"Good child! I like a woman with a spirit of her own. Go on as you +have begun, and don't let him think he is to have it all his own +way. Lovers are all very well, but husbands soon show their wives +how cheap they hold them when they have won them all too cheap. +Throw him aside in scorn! Let him not think or see that you care a +snap of the fingers for him. That will rivet the fetters all the +faster; and when you have got him like a tame bear at the end of a +chain--why then you can make up your mind at leisure what you will +end by doing." + +Gertrude sprang up suddenly, and faced Lady Scrope with flushed +cheeks and glowing eyes. + +The little witch-like woman with her black-handled stick and her +mobcap was no unfrequent visitor to this shut-up house. There was a +communication between the two dwellings by means of a door in the +cellars, and all this while curiosity, or some better motive, had +prompted the eccentric old woman to come to and fro between her own +luxurious house and this, paying visits to the devoted girls, and +by turns terrifying and charming the children. Gertrude had been +interested from the first by the piquant individuality of the old +aristocrat, and was a decided favourite with her. It was plain now +that she had been listening to the conversation between father and +daughter, a thing so characteristic of her curiosity and even of +her benevolence that Gertrude hardly so much as resented it. +Nevertheless, having a spirit of her own, and being by no means +prepared to be dictated to in these matters, some hot words escaped +her lips almost before she knew, and were answered by Lady Scrope +by an amused peal of her witch-like laughter. + +"Tut! tut! tut! Hoity toity! but she is in a temper, is she, my +lady? Well a good thing too. Your saints are insipid unless they +can call up a spice of the devil on occasion! Oh, don't you be +afraid of me, child. I've known all about you and young Harmer this +long time. I agree with your late mother, that you could do better; +but with all the world topsy turvy as it is now, we must take what +we can get; and that young man is estimable without doubt, and a +bit of a hero in his way. I don't blame you for loving him. It's +the way with maids, and will be to the end of time, I take it. All +I say is, don't throw yourself away too fast. Show a proper pride. +Keep him dangling and fearing, rather than hoping too much. Show +him that he can't have you just for the asking. Why, child, I have +kept a dozen fools hanging round me for a twelvemonth together +sometimes; but I only married when I was tired of the game, and +when I knew I had made sure of a captive who would not rebel. I +swore in church to obey poor Scrope; but, bless you, he obeyed me +like a lamb to the last day of his life--and was all the better for +it." + +Lady Scrope's reminiscences and bits of worldly wisdom were not +much more to Gertrude's taste than her father's had been. It was +not pride, but a sense of humiliation and shame, which kept her +from facing the thought of marriage with Reuben now that she was +poor, when she had been scornfully denied to him when she was +thought to be a well-dowered maiden. The idea of keeping him +dangling after her in suspense was about the last that would ever +have entered her head. Her feeling was one of profound humiliation +and unworthiness. Her mother's bitter words could never be +forgotten by her; and after what her father had told her of his +ruined state, it appeared to her simply impossible that she should +let Reuben take possession of her and her future when she could +bring nothing in return. + +But she could not speak of these things to Lady Scrope; and finding +her favourite irresponsive and reserved, the dame shrugged her +shoulders and passed on to another room, where the children were +soon heard to utter shrieks and gasps of mingled delight and terror +at the stories she told them, which stories invariably fascinated +them to an extraordinary degree, yet left them with a sense of +undefined horror that was half delightful, half terrible. + +They all thought that she was a witch, and that she could spirit +any of them away to fairy land. But since she brought sweetmeats in +her capacious pockets, and had an endless fund of stories at her +disposal, her visits were always welcomed, and she had certainly +shown herself capable of a most unsuspected benevolence at this +crisis, in presenting this house to the authorities for such a +purpose, and in contributing considerably to the maintenance of the +desolate little inmates. + +She liked to hear their dismal stories almost as well as they liked +to hear hers. She made a point of visiting every fresh batch of +children, after they had been duly fumigated and disinfected, and +she seemed to take a horrible and unnatural delight in the ghastly +details of desolation and death which were revealed in the artless +narratives of the children. + +She was one of those who, knowing much of the fearful corruption of +the times, were fond of prognosticating this judgment as a sweeping +away of the dregs of the earth; although she still maintained that +had the water supply been purer and differently arranged, the +judgment of Heaven would have had to seek another medium. + +For three or four days Gertrude lived in a state of feverish +expectancy and subdued excitement. She had fancied from her +father's tone in speaking that there had been some talk of a +betrothal between him and his neighbour, and that Reuben might take +her consent for granted. The idea made her restless and unhappy. +She wished the ordeal of refusing him over. She believed she was +right in taking this step; but it was a hard one, and she was +sometimes afraid of her own courage. The more she thought of the +matter the more she convinced herself that Reuben's love was one of +compassion rather than true affection. He had almost ceased his +attentions in her mother's lifetime, and had been very reserved in +his intercourse of late. Doubtless if he heard of her father's +ruin, generosity would make him strive to do all that he could for +her in her changed circumstances. It would be like him then to step +forward and avow himself ready to marry her. But it was out of the +question for her to consent. She wished the matter settled and done +with; she wished the irrevocable words spoken. + +And yet when at dusk one evening Reuben suddenly stood before her, +she felt her heart beating to suffocation, and wished that she had +any reasonable excuse for fleeing from him. + +His visits to the house were not frequent; he was too busy to make +them so. But from time to time he brought orphaned children to the +home of shelter, or took away from it some of those for whom other +homes had been found with their kinsfolk in other places. Tonight +he had brought in three little destitute orphans; but having given +them over into the care of his sisters, he went in search of +Gertrude, who was with the youngest of the children in a separate +room, and, having sung them all to sleep, was sitting in the window +thinking her own thoughts. + +She knew what was coming when she saw Reuben's face, and braced +herself to meet it. Reuben was very quiet and self-restrained--so +self-restrained that she thought she read in his manner an +indication that her suspicion was correct, and that it was pity +rather than love which prompted his proposal of marriage. + +As a matter of fact Reuben was more in love with Gertrude now than +he had ever been in his life before; but he had come to look upon +her as a being so far above him in every respect that he sometimes +marvelled at himself for ever hoping to win her. The fact that her +father was just now a ruined man seemed to him as nothing. At a +time like this the presence or absence of this world's goods +appeared absolutely trivial. Reuben believed that the Master +Builder would retrieve his fortune in better times without +difficulty, and regarded this temporary reverse as absolutely +insignificant. Therefore he had no clue to Gertrude's motive in her +rejection of him, and accepted it almost in silence, feeling that +it was what he always ought to have looked for, and marvelling at +his temerity in seeking the hand of one who was to him more angel +than woman. + +He said very little; he took it very quietly. It seemed to him as +though all the life went out of him, and as though hope died within +him for ever. But he scarcely showed any outward emotion as he rose +and said farewell; and little did he guess how, when he had gone, +Gertrude flung herself on the floor in a passion of tears and +sobbed till the fountain of her weeping was exhausted. + +"I was right! I was right! It was not love; it was only pity! But +ah, how terrible it is to put aside all the happiness of one's +life! Oh I wonder if I have done wrong! I wonder if I could better +have borne it if I had humbled myself to take what he had to offer, +without thinking of anything but myself!" + +Would he come again? Would he try to see her any more? Would this +be the end of everything between them? Gertrude asked herself these +questions a thousand times a day; but a week flew by and he had not +come. She had not seen a sign of him, nor had any word concerning +him reached her from without. There was nothing very unusual in this, +certainly; and yet as day after day passed by without bringing him, +the girl felt her heart sinking within her, and would have given +worlds for the chance of reconsidering her well-considered judgment. + +How the days went by she scarcely knew, but the next event in her +dream-like life was the sudden bursting into the room of Dorcas, +her face flushed, and her eyelids swollen and red with weeping. + +Dorcas was a member of Lady Scrope's household, but paid visits +from time to time to the other house. Also, as Lady Scrope's house +was not shut up, she could go thence to pay a visit home at any +time, and she had just come from one such visit now. + +Gertrude sprang up at sight of her, asking anxiously: + +"Dorcas! Dorcas! what is wrong?" + +"Reuben!" cried Dorcas, with a great catch in her breath, and then +she fell sobbing again as though her heart would break. + +Gertrude stood like one turned to stone, her face growing as white +as her kerchief. + +"What of Reuben?" she asked, in a voice that she hardly knew for +her own. "He is not--dead?" + +"Pray Heaven he be not," cried Dorcas through her sobs; and then, +with a great effort controlling herself, she told her brief tale. + +"I went home at noon today and found them all in sore trouble. +Reuben has not been seen or heard of for three days. Mother says +she had a fear for several days before that that something was +amiss; he looked so wan, and ate so little, and seemed like one out +of whom all heart is gone. He would go forth daily to his work, but +he came home harassed and tired, and on the last morning she +thought him sick; but he said he was well, and promised to come +home early. Then she let him go, and no one has seen him since. + +"Oh, what can have befallen him? There seems but one thing to +believe. They say the sickness is worse now than ever it was. +People drop down dead in street and market, and soon there will be +none left to bury them. That must have been Reuben's fate. He has +dropped down with the infection upon him, and if he be not lying in +some pest house--which they say it is death now to enter--he must +be lying in one of those awful graves. + +"O Reuben! Reuben! we shall never see you again!" + + + +CHAPTER XII. EXCITING DISCOVERIES. + + +Joseph and Benjamin found themselves exceedingly happy and +exceedingly well occupied in their aunt's pleasant cottage. They +rose every morning with the lark, and spent an hour in setting +everything to rights in the house, and sweeping out every room with +scrupulous care, as their mother had taught them to do at home, +believing that perfect cleanliness was one of the greatest +safeguards against infection. Hot and close though the weather +remained, the air out in these open country places seemed delicious +to the boys, and the freedom to run out every moment into the open +fields was in itself a privilege which could only be appreciated by +those who had been long confined within walls. + +Sometimes they were alone in the house with their aunt. Sometimes +the cottage harboured guests of various degrees--travellers fleeing +from the doomed city in terror of the fearful mortality there, or +poor unfortunates turned away from their own abodes because they +were suspected of having been in contact with the sick, and were +refused admittance again. Servant maids were often put in this +melancholy plight. They would be sent upon errands by their +employers to the bake house or some other place; and perhaps ere +they were admitted again they would be closely questioned as to +what they had seen or heard. Sometimes having terrible and doleful +tales to tell of having seen persons fall down in the agonies of +death almost at their feet, terror would seize hold upon the +inmates of the house, who would refuse to open the door to one who +might by this time be herself infected. And when this was the case, +the forlorn creature was forced to wander away, and generally tried +to find her way out of the city and into the country beyond. Many +such unlucky wights, having no passes, were turned back by the +guardians of the road; but some succeeded in evading these men, or +else in persuading them, and many such unfortunates had found rest +and help and shelter beneath Mary Harmer's charitable roof. + +September was now come, but as yet there was no abatement of the +pestilence raging in the city. Indeed the accounts coming in of the +virulence of the plague seemed worse than ever. Ten thousand deaths +were returned in the weekly bill for the first week alone, and +those who knew the state of the city were of opinion that not more +than two-thirds of the deaths were ever really reported to the +authorities. Hitherto the carts had never gone about save by night, +and for all that was rumoured by those who loved to make the worst +of so terrible a calamity, it was seldom that a corpse lay about in +the streets for above a short while, just until notice of its +presence there was given to the authorities. + +But now it seemed as though nothing could cope with the fearful +increase of the mortality. The carts were forced to work by day as +well as by night; and so virulent was now the pestilence that the +bearers and buriers who had hitherto escaped, or had recovered of +the malady and thought themselves safe, died in great numbers. So +that there were tales of carts overthrown in the streets by reason +of the drivers of them falling dead upon their load, or of +driverless horses going of their own accord to the pits with their +load. + +These terrible tales were reported to Mary Harmer and her nephews +by the fugitives who sought refuge with her at this time. And very +thankful did the lads feel to be free of the city and its terrors, +albeit they never forgot to offer up earnest prayer for their +father and mother and all their dear ones who were dwelling in the +midst of so much peril. There was no hope of hearing news of them, +save by hazard, whilst things were like this; but they trusted that +the precautions taken, and hitherto successfully, would avert the +pestilence from their dwelling, and for the rest the boys were too +well employed to have time for brooding. + +When their daily work at home was done, there were always errands +of mercy to be performed to neighbours who had had sickness at +home, or to the persons encamped in the fields, who were very +thankful of any little presents of vegetables or eggs or other +necessaries; whilst others of larger means were glad to buy from +those who came to sell, and gave good money for the accommodation. + +Mary Harmer had a large and productive garden and a large stock of +poultry, so that she was able both to sell and to give largely; and +the boys thought that working in the garden and looking after the +fowls was the best sort of fun possible. They were exceedingly +useful to her, and she kept them out of danger without fretting or +curbing their eager spirit of usefulness. Of course, no person in +those days could act with unselfish charity and not adventure +something; but she took all reasonable precautions, and, like her +brother, trusted the rest to Providence. And she believed that the +boys were safer with her, even though not so closely restrained, +than they would have been had they remained in the infected city, +where the people now seemed to be dying like stricken sheep. + +But the spirit of curiosity and love of adventure were not dead +within the hearts of the boys; and although for some weeks they +were fully contented in performing the duties set them by their +aunt, there were moments when a strong curiosity would come over +them for some greater sensation, and this it was which led them to +an act of disobedience destined to be fraught with important +consequences, as will soon be seen. + +Mary Harmer's house was empty again, and she had promised to sit up +for a night with a sick woman who lived some two miles off, and who +had entreated her to come and see her. This was no case of plague, +but fear of the infection had become so strong by this time that +the sick were often rather harshly treated, and sometimes almost +entirely neglected, by those about them. Mary Harmer had heard that +this poor creature had been left alone by her son's wife, who had +taken away her children and refused to go near her. Mary knew that +her presence there for a while, and her assurances as to the nature +of the malady, would be most likely to bring the woman to reason, +so she decided to go and remain for one whole night, and she left +her own cottage in the charge of the boys, bidding them take care +of everything, and expect her back again on the following +afternoon. + +They were quite happy all that evening, seeing to the poultry, and +running races with Fido in the leafy lane. They liked the +importance of the charge of the house, although they missed the +gentle presence of their aunt. They shut up the house at dark, and +prepared their simple supper, and whilst they were eating it, +Benjamin said: + +"What shall we do tomorrow when we have finished our work?" + +"I know what I should like to do," said Joseph promptly. + +"What, brother?" asked Benjamin eagerly. + +"Marry, what I want to do is to go and see that farm house hard by +Clerkenwell which they have turned into a pest house, and where +they say they have dozens of plague-stricken people brought in +daily. I have never seen a pest house. I would fain know what it +looks like. And we might get more news there of the truth of those +things that they say about the plague in the city. Ben, what sayest +thou?" + +Ben's eyes were round with wonder and excitement. The boys had all +the careless daring and eager curiosity which belong to boy nature. +They were by this time so much habituated to living under +conditions of risk and a certain amount of peril, that a little +more or a little less did not now seem greatly to matter. + +"Would our good aunt approve?" asked the younger boy. + +"I trow not," answered Joseph frankly; "women are always timid, and +she would say, perchance, that unless duty called us it were +foolish to adventure ourselves into danger. But I would fain see +this place, Ben, boy. If in time to come we live to be men, and +folks ask us of these days of peril and sickness, I should like to +have seen all that may be seen of these great things. Our father +went many times to the pest houses within the city and came away no +worse. Why should thou or I suffer? We have our vinegar bottles and +our decoctions, and methinks we know enough now not to run needless +risks." + +Benjamin was almost as eager and curious as his brother. The spirit +of adventure soon gets into the hearts of boys and runs riot there. +Before they went to bed they had fully decided to make the +excursion; and they rose earlier next morning so as to get all +their work done while it was yet scarce light, so that they might +start for their destination before the heat of the day came on. + +It was pleasant walking through the dewy fields, and hard indeed +was it to imagine that death and misery lurked anywhere in the +neighbourhood of what was so smiling and gay. The boys knew what +paths to take, nor was the distance very great. Benjamin on his +former visit to his aunt had spent a day with the good people at +this very farm house. Now, alas, all had been swept away, and the +place had been taken possession of for the time being by the +authorities, to be used as a supplementary pest house, where the +homeless sick could be temporarily housed. Generally it was but for +a few hours or a couple of days that such shelter was needed. The +great common grave, barely a quarter of a mile away, received day +by day the great majority of the unfortunate ones who were brought +in. + +In all London proper there were only two pest houses used at this +time, one on some fields beyond Old Street, and the other in +Westminster; but as the virulence of the distemper increased, and +the suburbs became so terribly infected, and such numbers of +persons fleeing this way and that would fall stricken by the +wayside, it became necessary to find places of some sort where they +could be received, and the authorities began to take possession of +empty houses--generally farmsteads standing in a convenient but +isolated position--and to use them for this melancholy purpose. It +could not be expected that even the most charitable would receive +plague-stricken wayfarers into their own families, nor would such a +thing be right. Yet they could not remain by the wayside to die and +infect the air. So they were removed by the bearers appointed to +that gruesome work to these smaller pest houses, and only too often +from thence to the pit in the course of a few hours. + +"How pretty it all looks!" said Benjamin, as they approached the +place. "See, Joseph, those are the great elm trees where the rooks +build, and which I used to climb. When they cut the hay, I came +often and rolled about in it and played with the boys from the +farm. To think that they should all be dead and gone! Alack! what +strange times these be! It seems sometimes as though it were all a +dream!" + +"I would it were!" said Joseph, sobered by the thought of their +near approach to the habitation of death. "Ben, wouldst thou rather +turn back and see no more? We have at least seen the outside of a +pest house. Shall that suffice us?" + +"Nay, if we have come so far, let us go further," answered +Benjamin. "We have seen naught but the tiled roof and the green +garden. Come this way. There is a little gate by which we may gain +entrance to a side door. Perchance they will turn us back if we +seek to enter at the front." + +The farm house looked peaceful enough nestling beneath its +sheltering row of tall elms, in the midst of its wild garden, now a +mass of autumnal bloom. But as they neared the house the boys heard +dismal sounds issuing thence--the groans of sufferers beneath the +hands of the physicians, who were often driven to use what seemed +cruel measures to cause the tumours to break--the only chance of +recovery for the patient--the shriek of some maddened or delirious +patient, or the unintelligible murmur and babble from a multitude +of sick. Moreover, they inhaled the pungent fumes of the burning +drugs and vinegar which alone made it possible to breathe the +atmosphere tainted by so much pestilential sickness. The boys held +their own bottles of vinegar to their noses as they stole towards +the house, feeling a mingling of strong repulsion and strong +curiosity as they approached the dismal stronghold of disease. + +Although men were in these days becoming almost reckless, and those +who actually nursed and tended the sick were naturally less +cautious and less particular than others, yet it is probable that +the daring boys might have been turned back had they approached the +house by the ordinary entrance, for they certainly could not +profess to have business there. As it was, however, thanks to +Benjamin's knowledge of the place, not a creature observed their +quiet approach through the orchard and along a tangled garden path. +This path brought them to a door, which stood wide open in this +sultry weather, in order to let a free current of air pass through +the house, and they inhaled more strongly still the aromatic +perfumes, which were not yet strong enough entirely to overcome +that other noisome odour which was one of the most fatal means of +spreading infection from plague-stricken patients. + +"We can get into the great kitchen by this door," whispered +Benjamin. "I trow they will use it for the sick; it is the biggest +room in all the house. Yonder is the door. Shall I open it?" + +Joseph gave a sign of assent, but bid his brother not speak +needlessly, and keep his handkerchief to his mouth and nose. They +had both steeped their handkerchiefs in vinegar, and could inhale +nothing save that pungent scent. + +Burning with curiosity, yet half afraid of their own temerity, the +boys stole through a half-open door into a great room lined with +beds. The sound of moans, groans, shrieks, and prayers drowned all +the noise their own entry might have made, and they stood in the +shadow looking round them, quite unnoticed in the general confusion +of that busy home of death. + +There were perhaps a score or more of sufferers in the great room, +and two nurses moving about amongst them, quickly and in none too +tender a fashion. A doctor was also there with a young man, his +assistant; and at some bedsides he paused, whilst at others he gave +a shake of the head, and went by without a word. Indeed it seemed +to the boys as though almost a quarter of the patients were dead +men, they lay so still and rigid, and the purple patches upon the +white skin stood out with such terrible distinctness. + +A man suddenly put in his head from the open door at the other end +and asked of anybody who could answer him: + +"Room for any more here?" + +And the doctor's assistant, looking round, replied: + +"Room for four, if you will send and have these taken away." + +Almost immediately there came in two men, who bore away four +corpses from the place, and in five minutes more the beds were full +again, and the nurses were calculating how soon it would be +possible to receive more, some now here being obviously in a dying +state. The bearers reported that the outer barn was full as well as +all the house; but those without invariably died, whilst a portion +of those brought in recovered. + +Joseph and Benjamin had seen enough for their own curiosity. It was +a more terrible sight than they had anticipated, and they felt a +great longing to get out of this stricken den into the purer air +without. Joseph had laid a hand on his brother's arm to draw him +away, when he was alarmed by seeing his brother's eyes fixed upon +the far corner of the room with such an extraordinary expression of +amaze and horror, that for a moment he feared he must have been +suddenly stricken by the plague and was going off into the awful +delirium he had heard described. + +A poignant fear and remorse seized him, lest he had been the means +of bringing his brother into this peril and having caused his +attack, if indeed it were one, and he pulled him harder by the arm +to get him away. But with a strange choked cry Benjamin broke from +him, and running across the room he flung himself upon his knees by +the side of a bed, crying in a lamentable voice: + +"Reuben--Reuben--Reuben!" + +It was Joseph's turn now to gaze in horror and dismay. Could that +be Reuben--that cadaverous, death-like creature, with the livid +look of a plague patient, lying like one in a trance which can only +end in the awakening of death? Was Benjamin dreaming? or was it +really their brother? But how could he by any possibility be here, +so far away from home, so utterly beyond the limits of his own +district? + +The doctor had approached Benjamin and had pulled him back from the +bedside quickly, though not unkindly. + +"What are you doing here, child?" he said. "Have we not enough upon +our hands without having sound persons mad enough to seek to add to +the numbers of the sick? Is he a relation of yours? + +"Well, well, well, he will be looked after here better than you can +do it. Your brother? Well, he has been four days here, and is one +of those I have hope for. The tumours have discharged. He is +suffering now from weakness and fever; but he might get well, +especially if we could move him out of this pestilential air. Go +home, children, and tell your friends that if they have a place to +take him to he will not infect them now, and will have a better +chance. But you must not linger here. It may be death to you; +though it is true enough that many come seeking their friends who +go away and take no hurt. No one can say who is safe and who is +not. But get you gone, get you gone. Your brother shall be well +looked to, I say. We have none so many who recover that we can +afford to let those slip back for whom there is a chance!" + +He had pushed the boys by this time into the garden, and was +speaking to them there. He was a kind man, if blunt, and habit had +not bred indifference in him to the sufferings of those about him. +He told the boys that one of the strangest features about the +plague patients was the rapid recovery they often made when once +the poison was discharged by the breaking of the swellings, and the +rapidity with which the infection ceased when these broken tumours +had healed. Reuben's case had seemed desperate enough when he was +brought in, but now he was in a fair way of recovery. If he could +be taken to better air, he would probably be a sound man quickly. +Even as he was, he might well recover. + +The boys looked at each other and said with one voice that they +thought they knew of a house where he would be received, and got +leave to remove him in a cart at any time. The doctor then hurried +back to his work, whilst the brothers looked each other in the +face, and Benjamin said gravely: + +"Methinks it must have been put into our hearts to go. Aunt Mary +will forgive the temerity when she hears of the special +Providence." + +Their aunt was at no great distance off, as Benjamin knew. Instead +of going home, they found their way to a brook. Pulling off their +clothes, they proceeded to drag them over the sweet-scented meadow +grass. Then they plunged into the brook, and enjoyed a delightful +paddle and bath in the clear cool water. After rolling themselves +in the hot grass, and having a fine romp there with Fido, they +donned their garments, and felt indeed as though they had got rid +of all germs of infection and disease. + +After this they made their way towards the cottage where their aunt +had been staying, and met her just sallying forth to return home. + +Without any hesitation or delay Joseph told the tale of their +hardihood and disobedience, and the strange discovery to which it +had led them; and although their aunt trembled and looked pale with +terror at the thought of how they had exposed themselves, she did +not stop to chide them, but was full of anxiety for the immediate +release of Reuben from his pestilential prison, and eager to have +him to nurse in her own house, if she could do this without risk to +the younger boys. + +They were to the full as eager as she, and promised in everything +to obey her--even to the sleeping and living in an outhouse for a +few days, if only she would save Reuben from that horrible pest +house. None knew better than Mary Harmer, who was a notable nurse +herself, how much might now depend upon pure air, nourishing food, +and quiet; and how could her nephew receive much individual care +when cooped up amongst scores, if not hundreds, of desperate cases? + +Mary was so much beloved by all around, that she quickly found a +farmer willing to lend a cart even for the purpose of removing a +sick person from the pest house, if he bore the honoured name of +Harmer. She would not permit any person to accompany the cart, but +drove it herself, and sent the boys home to prepare the airiest +chamber and make all such preparations as they could think of +beforehand; and to remove their own bedding into the outhouse, till +she was assured that they were in no peril from the presence of +their brother indoors. + +Eagerly the boys worked at these tasks, and everything was in +beautiful order when the cart drove up. One of the attendants from +the pest house had come with it, and he carried Reuben up to the +bed made ready for him, and drove the cart away, promising to +disinfect it thoroughly, and return it to the owner ere nightfall. + +It was little the eager boys saw of their aunt that day. She was +engrossed by Reuben the whole time. She said he was terribly weak, +and that he had not yet got back the use of his faculties. He lay +in a sort of trance or stupor, and did not know where he was or +what was happening. It came from weakness, and would pass away as +he got back his strength. The doctor had assured her that the +plague symptoms had spent themselves, and that he was free from the +contagion. + +The boys slept in the shed that night tranquilly enough, and in the +morning their aunt came to them with a grave and sorrowful face. + +"Is he worse?" asked Benjamin starting up. + +"Not worse, I hope, yet not better. He has some trouble on his +mind, and I fear that if we cannot ease him of that he will die," +and her tears ran over, for Reuben was dear to her as a nephew, and +she knew what store her brother set by his eldest son. + +"Trouble! what trouble? Are any dead at home?" cried the boys +anxiously. "Can he speak? has he talked to you? Tell us all!" + +"He has not talked with his senses awake, but he has spoken words +which have told me much. Death is not the trouble. He has not said +one word to make me fear that our loved ones have been taken. The +trouble is his own. It is a trouble of the heart. It concerns one +whose name is Gertrude. Is not that the name of Master Mason's +daughter?" + +"Why, yes, to be sure. She has joined with the rest--with Janet and +Rebecca--to care for the orphan children whom none know what to do +with, there are such numbers of them. Reuben always thought a great +deal of Mistress Gertrude--and she of him. What of that?" + +"Does she think much of him?" asked Mary eagerly. "I feared she had +flouted his love!" + +"Nay, she worships the ground he treads on!" cried Joseph, who had +a very sharp pair of eyes of his own, and a great liking for +sweet-spoken Gertrude himself. "It was madam, her mother, who +flouted Reuben. Gertrude is of different stuff. Why, whenever she +was with us she would get me in a corner and talk of nothing but +him. I thought they would but wait for the plague to be overpast to +wed each other!" + +Mary stood with her hands locked together, thinking deeply. + +"Joseph," she said, "if it were a matter of saving Reuben's life, +think you that Mistress Gertrude would come hither to my house and +help me to nurse him back to health?" + +Joseph's eyes flashed with eager excitement. + +"I am certain sure she would!" he answered. + +"Ah, but how to let her know!" cried Mary, pressing her hands +together in perplexity. "Alas for days like these! How shall any +one get a letter safely delivered to her in time? It may be that if +we tarry the fever will have swept him off. It is fever of the mind +rather than the body, and it is hard to minister to the mind +diseased, without the one healing medicine." + +"Hold! I have a plan," cried Joseph, whose wits were sharpened by +the pressing nature of the business in hand; "listen, and I will +expound it. Tomorrow morning I will sally forth with a barrow laden +with eggs, vegetables, and fruit; and I will enter the city as one +of the country folks for the market, with whom none interfere at +the barriers. I will e'en sell my goods to whoever will buy them, +and at the bottom of the barrow thou shalt put one of thy cotton +gowns and market aprons, Aunt Mary. Then will I go to Mistress +Gertrude and tell her all. I shall learn of the welfare of those at +home, and will come back with her at my side. The watch will but +take her for a market woman, and we shall both pass unchecked and +unhindered. By noon tomorrow Gertrude shall be here! + +"Nay, hinder me not, good aunt. We must all adventure ourselves +somewhat in this dire distress and peril. Sure, if Providence kept +me safe in yon pest house yesterday, I need not fear to return to +the city upon an errand of mercy such as may save my brother's +life!" + + + +CHAPTER XIII. HAPPY MEETINGS. + + +"Reuben found! Reuben alive! O Joseph, Joseph, Joseph!" and Dorcas +burst into tears of joy and relief, and sobbed aloud upon her +brother's neck. + +Joseph had brought his news straight to Dorcas, knowing that she at +least would be certainly found within Lady Scrope's house. He was +secretly afraid to go home first, lest the fatal red cross upon the +door should tell its tale of woe, or lest the whole house itself +should be shut up and desolate, like the majority of the houses he +had passed in the forlorn city that morning. He felt, however, an +almost superstitious confidence that Lady Scrope's house would defy +the infection. He was decidedly of the opinion that that +redoubtable dame was a witch, and that she had charms which kept +the plague at bay. He therefore first sought out the sister with +whom he felt certain he could obtain speech; and she had drawn him +into a little parlour hard by the street door, in great +astonishment at seeing him there, and fearful at first (as folks +had grown to be of late) that he was the bearer of evil tidings. + +The joy and relief were therefore so great that she could not +restrain her tears, and between laughing, crying, and repeating in +astonished snatches the words of explanation which fell from +Joseph's lips, she made such an unwonted commotion in the +ordinarily silent house, that soon the tap of a stick could have +been heard by ears less preoccupied coming down the stairs and +along the passage, and the door was pushed open to admit the little +upright figure of the mistress of the house. + +"Hoity toity! art thou bereft of thy senses, child? What in +fortune's name means all this? + +"Boy, who art thou? and what dost thou here? A brother, forsooth! +Come with some news, perchance? Well, well, well; how goes it in +the city? Are any left alive? They say at the rate we are going +now, it will take but a month more to destroy the city even as +Sodom was destroyed!" + +"O madam," cried Dorcas dashing away her tears, and turning an +eager face towards the witch-like old woman, who in her silk gown, +hooped and looped up, her fine lace cap and mittens, and her ebony +stick with its ivory head, looked the impersonation of a fairy +godmother, "this is my brother Joseph, and he comes with welcome +tidings. My brother Reuben is not dead, albeit he has in truth been +smitten by the plague. Joseph found him yesterday in the pest house +just beyond Clerkenwell; and he is in a fair way to recover, if his +mind can but be set at rest. + +"Oh what news this will be for our parents!--for the girls!--for +Gertrude! Oh how we have mourned and wept together; and now we +shall rejoice with full hearts!" + +"Has Mistress Gertrude mourned for him too?" asked Joseph eagerly. +"Marry that is good hearing, for I have wondered all this while +whether I should obtain the grace from her for which I have come." + +"And what is that, young man?" asked Lady Scrope, tapping her cane +upon the ground as much as to say that in her own house she was not +going to take a secondary place, and that conversation was to be +addressed to her. Joseph turned to her at once and answered: + +"Verily, good madam, my aunt has sent me hither to fetch Mistress +Gertrude forthwith to his side. She says that he calls ceaselessly +upon her, and that unless he can see her beside him he may yet die +of the disappointment and trouble, albeit the plague is stayed in +his case, and it is but the fever of weakness that is upon him. She +thinks it will not hurt her to come, if so be that it is as we +hope, and that she has in her heart for him the same love as he has +for her." + +"Oh, she has! she has!" cried Dorcas, fired with sudden +illumination of mind about many things that perplexed her before. +"Her heart is just breaking for him! + +"Prithee, good madam, let me go and call her. They say that she is +of little use in the house now, being weak and weeping, and too sad +at heart to work as heretofore. They can well spare her on such an +errand, and methinks it will save her life as well as his. Let me +but go and tell her the news." + +"Go, child, go. Lovers be the biggest fools in all this world of +fools! And if the women be the bigger fools, 'tis but because they +were meant to be fitting companions for the men! + +"Go to, child!--bring her here, and let us see what she says to +this mad errand of this mad boy. + +"And you, young sir, whilst your sister is gone, tell me all you +saw and heard in the pest house! Marry, I like your spirit in going +thither! It is the one place I long to see myself; only I am too +old to go gadding hither and thither after fine sights!" + +Joseph was quite willing to indulge the old lady's morbid curiosity +as to the sights he had seen yesterday and today, as he had +journeyed back into the city in the guise of a market lad. The +things were terrible enough to satisfy even Lady Scrope, who seemed +to rejoice in an uncanny fashion over the awful devastation going +on all round. + +"I'm not a saint myself," she said with unwonted gravity, "and I +never set up for one, but many has been the time when I have warned +those about me that God would not stand aside for ever looking on +at these abominations. The means were ready to His hand, and He has +taken them and used them as a scourge. And He will scourge this +wicked city yet again, if men will not amend their evil practices." + +Next minute Gertrude and Dorcas came running in together, and +Gertrude almost flung herself into Joseph's arms in her eager +gratitude to him for his news, and her desire to hear everything he +could tell her. + +Such a clamour of voices then arose as fairly drowned any remark +that Lady Scrope tried from time to time to throw in. Her old face +took a suddenly softened look as she watched the little scene, and +heard the words that passed amongst the young people. Presently she +went tapping away on her high-heeled shoes, and was absent for some +ten or fifteen minutes. When she came back she held in her hands a +small iron-bound box, which seemed to be very heavy for its size. + +"Well," she asked in her clear, sharp tones, "and what is going to +be done next?" + +"O madam, I am going to him. I can do naught else," answered +Gertrude, whose face was like an April morning, all smiles and +tears blended together. "I cannot let him lie wanting me and +wearying for me." + +"Humph! I thought you had shown yourself a girl of spirit, and had +sent him about his business when he came a-wooing, eh?" + +"O madam, I did so. I thought that duty bid me; but I have repented +so bitterly since! They say that 'twas since then he fell into the +melancholy which was like to make him fall ill of the distemper. +Oh, if he were to die, I should feel his blood on my head. I should +never hold it up again. I cannot let anything keep me from him now. +I must go to him in my poverty and tell him all. He must be the +judge!" + +Lady Scrope uttered a little snort, although her face bore no +unkindly look. + +"Child, child, thou art a veritable woman! I had thought better +things of thee, but thou art just like the rest. Thou wilt gladly +lie down in the dust, so as the one man shall trample upon thee, +whilst thou dost adore him the more for it. Go to! go to! Maids and +lovers be all alike. Fools every one of them! But for all that I +like thee. I have an old woman's fancy for thee. And since in these +days none may reckon on seeing the face of a departing friend +again, I give now into thine hands the wedding gift I have had in +mine eyes for thee. + +"Nay, thank me not; and open it not save at the bedside of thy +betrothed husband--if thou art fool enough to betroth thyself to +one who as like as not will die of the plague before the week is +out. + +"And now off with you both. If you tarry too long, the watch will +not believe you to be honest market folks, and will hinder your +flight. Good luck go with you; and when ye be come to the city +again--if ever that day arrive--come hither and tell me all the +tale of your folly and love. Although a wise woman myself, I have a +wondrous love of hearing tales of how other folks make havoc of +their lives by their folly." + +Gertrude took the box, which amazed her by its weight, and +suggested ideas of value quite out of keeping with what she had any +reason to expect from one so little known to her as Lady Scrope. +She thanked the donor with shy gratitude, and pressed the withered +hand to her fresh young lips. Lady Scrope, a little moved despite +her cynical fashion of talking, gave her several affectionate +kisses; and then the other girls came in to see the last of their +companion, and to charge her with many messages of love for Reuben. + +Joseph during this interval darted round to his father's house, to +exchange a kiss with his mother and tell her the good news. It was +indeed a happy day for the parents to hear that the son whom they +had given up for lost was living, and likely, under Gertrude's +care, to do well. They had not dared to murmur or repine. It seemed +to them little short of a miracle that death had spared to them all +their children through this fearful season. When they believed one +had at last been taken, they had learned the strength and courage +to say, "God's will be done." Yet it was happiness inexpressible to +know that he was not only living, but in the safe retreat of Mary +Harmer's cottage, and under her tender and skilful care. + +So used were they now to the thought of those they loved caring for +the sick, that they had almost ceased to fear contagion so +encountered. It appeared equally busy amongst those who fled from +it. They did not even chide Joseph for the reckless curiosity which +had led the boys to adventure themselves without cause in the +fashion that had led to such notable results. + +When Joseph returned to Lady Scrope's, it was to find Gertrude +arrayed in the clothes provided for her, and looking, save for her +dainty prettiness, quite like a country girl come in with +marketable wares. Such things of her own as she needed for her +sojourn, together with Lady Scrope's precious box, were put into +the barrow beneath the empty basket and sacks. Then with many +affectionate farewells the pair started forth, and talking eagerly +all the while, took their way through the solitary grass-grown +streets, away through Cripplegate, and out towards the pleasanter +regions beyond the walls. + +Joseph sought to engross his companion in talk, so that she might +not see or heed too much the dismal aspect of all around them. He +himself had seen a considerable difference in the city between the +time he and Benjamin had left it and today. In places it almost +seemed as though no living soul now remained; and he observed that +foot passengers in the streets went about more recklessly than +before, with a set and desperate expression of countenance, as +though they had made up their minds to the worst, and cared little +whether their fate overtook them today or a week hence. + +Gertrude's thoughts, however, were so much with Reuben, that she +heeded but little of what she saw around her. She spoke of him +incessantly, and begged again and again to hear the story of how he +had been found. Her cheek flushed a delicate rose tint each time +she heard how he had called for her ceaselessly in his delirium. +That showed her, if nothing else could convince her of it, how true +and disinterested his love was; that it was for herself he had +always wooed her, and not for any hope of the fortune she had at +one time looked to receive from her father as her marriage dowry. + +When they had passed the last of the houses, and stood in the sunny +meadows, with the blue sky above them and the songs of birds in +their ears, Gertrude heaved a great sigh of relief, and her eyes +filled with tears. + +"O beautiful trees and fields!" she cried; "it seems as though +nothing of danger and death could overshadow the dwellers in such +fair places." + +"So Benjamin and I thought," said Joseph gravely; "but, alas, the +plague has been busy here, too. See, there is a cluster of houses +down there, and but three of them are now inhabited. The pestilence +came and smote right and left, and in some houses not one was left +alive. Still death seems not so terrible here amid these smiling +fields as it does when men are pent together in streets and lanes. +And the dead at first could be buried in their own gardens by their +friends, if they could not take them to the churchyards, which soon +refused to receive them. Many were thus saved from the horror of +the plague pit, which they so greatly dreaded. But I know not +whether it is a wise kindness so to bury them; for there were +hamlets, I am told, where the plague raged fearfully, and where the +living could scarce bury the dead." + +Gertrude sighed; death and trouble did indeed seem everywhere. But +even her sorrow for others could not mar her happiness in the +prospect of seeing Reuben once again; and as they neared the place, +and Joseph pointed out the twisted chimneys and thatched roof +peeping through the sheltering trees and shrubs, the girl could not +restrain her eager footsteps, and flew on in advance of her +companion, who was retarded by his barrow. + +The next minute she was eagerly kissing Benjamin (who, together +with Fido, had run out at the sound of her footsteps), and shedding +tears of joy at the news that Reuben was no worse, that there were +now no symptoms of the plague about him, but that he was perilously +weak, and needed above all things that his mind should be set at +rest. + +At the sound of voices Mary Harmer came softly downstairs from the +sick man's side, and divining in a moment who the stranger was, +took her into a warm, motherly embrace, and thanked her again and +again for coming so promptly. + +"Nay, it is I must thank thee for letting me come," answered +Gertrude between smiles and tears. "And now, may I not go to him? I +would not lose a moment. I am hungry for the sight of his living +face. Prithee, let me go!" + +"So thou shalt, my child, in all good speed; but just at this +moment he sleeps, and thou must refresh thyself after thy long, hot +walk, that thou mayest be better able to tend him. I will not keep +thee from him, be sure, when the time comes that thou mayest go to +him." + +Joseph at that moment came up with the barrow, and Gertrude found +that it was pleasant and refreshing to let Mary Harmer bathe her +face and hands and array her in her own garments. And then she sat +down to a pleasant meal of fresh country provisions, which tasted +so different from anything she had eaten these many long weeks. + +The boys, who as a precautionary measure were keeping away from the +house itself until it should be quite certain that their brother +was free from infection, took their meal on the grass plot outside, +and enjoyed it mightily. + +The whole scene was so different from anything upon which +Gertrude's eyes had rested for long, that tears would rise unbidden +in them, though they were tears of happiness and gratitude. The dog +Fido took to her at once, and showed her many intelligent +attentions, and was so useful altogether in fetching and carrying +that his cleverness and docility were a constant source of +amusement and wonder to all, and gave endless delight to the boys, +who spent all their spare time in training him. + +Then just when the afternoon shadows were beginning to lengthen, +and the light to grow golden with the mellow September glow, +Gertrude was softly summoned to the pleasant upper chamber, which +smelt sweetly of lavender, rose leaves, and wild thyme, where +beside the open casement lay Reuben, in a snow-white bed, his face +sadly wasted and white, and his eyes closed as if in the lassitude +of utter weakness. + +Mary gave Gertrude a smile, and motioned her to go up to him, which +she did very softly and with a beating heart. He did not appear to +note her footfall; but when she stood beside him, and gently spoke +his name, his eyes flashed open in a moment, and fixed themselves +upon her face, their expression growing each moment more clear and +comprehending. + +"Gertrude!" he breathed in a voice whose weakness told a tale of +its own, and he moved his hand as though he would fain ascertain by +the sense of touch whether or not this was a dream. + +She saw the movement, and took his hand between her own, kneeling +down beside the bed and covering it with kisses and tears. + +That seemed to tell him all, without the medium of words. He asked +no question, he only lay gazing at her with a deep contentment in +his eyes. He probably knew not either where he was, or how any of +these strange things came to pass. She was with him; she was his +very own. Of that there could be no manner of doubt. And that being +so, what did anything else matter? He lay gazing at her perfectly +contented, till he fell asleep holding her hand in his. + +That was the beginning of a steady if rather a slow recovery. It +was only natural indeed that Reuben should be long in regaining +strength. He had been through months of fatigue and arduous wearing +toil, and the marvel was that when the distemper attacked him in +his weakness and depression he had strength enough to throw it off. +As Mary Harmer said, it seemed sometimes as though those who went +fearlessly amongst the plague stricken became gradually inoculated +with the poison, and were thus able to rid themselves of it when it +did attack them. Reuben at least had soon thrown off his attack, +and the state of weakness into which he had fallen was less the +result of the plague than of his long and arduous labours before. + +How he ever came to be in the pest house of Clerkenwell he never +could altogether explain. He remembered that business had called +him out in a northwesterly direction; and he had a dim recollection +of feeling a sick longing for a sight of the country once more, and +of bending his steps further than he need, whilst he fancied he had +entertained some notion of paying a visit to his aunt, and making +sure that his brothers had safely reached her abode. That was +probably the reason why he had come so far away from home. He had +been feeling miserably restless and wretched ever since Gertrude +had refused him, and upon that day he had an overpowering sense of +illness and weariness upon him, too. But he did not remember +feeling any alarm, or any premonition of coming sickness. He had +grown so used to escaping when others were stricken down all round, +that the sense of uncertainty which haunted all men at the +commencement of the outbreak had almost left him now. It could only +be supposed that the fever of the pestilence had come upon him, and +that he had dropped by the wayside, as so many did, and had been +carried into the farm house by some compassionate person, or by one +of the bearers whose duty it was to keep the highways clear of such +objects of public peril. But he knew nothing of his own condition, +and had had no real gleam of consciousness, until he opened his +eyes in his aunt's house to find Gertrude bending over him. + +There was no shadow between them now. Gertrude's surrender was as +complete as Lady Scrope had foreseen. She used now to laugh with +Reuben over the sayings of that redoubtable old dame, and wonder +what she would think of them could she see them now. The box she +had entrusted to Gertrude had been given into Mary Harmer's care +for the present, till Reuben should be strong enough to enjoy the +excitement of opening it. But upon the first day that saw him down +in the little parlour, lying upon the couch that had been made +ready to receive him, Joseph eagerly clamoured to have the box +brought down and opened; and his wish being seconded by all, Mary +Harmer quickly produced it, and it was set upon a little table at +the side of the couch. + +"Have you the key?" asked Reuben of Gertrude, and she produced it +from her neck, round which it had been hanging all this while by a +silken cord. + +"It felt almost like a love token," she said with a little blush, +"for she told me I was not to open it save at the side of my +betrothed husband!" + +Now, amid breathless silence, she fitted the key into the lock and +raised the lid. That disclosed a layer of soft packing, which, when +removed, left the contents exposed to view. + +"Oh!" cried Joseph and Benjamin in tones of such wonder that Fido +must needs rear himself upon his hind legs to get a peep, too; but +he was soon satisfied, for he saw nothing very interesting in the +yellow contents of the wooden box, which neither smelt nice nor +were good for food. But the lovers looked across at each other in +speechless amazement. + +For the box was filled to the brim with neatly piled heaps of +golden guineas--the first guineas ever struck in this country; so +called from the fact that they were made of Guinea gold brought +from Africa by one of the trading companies, and first coined in +the year 1662. And a quick calculation, based upon the counting of +one of these upright heaps, showed that the box contained five +hundred of these golden coins, which as yet were only just coming +into general circulation. + +"Oh," cried Gertrude in amaze, "what can she have done it for? And +they call Lady Scrope a miser!" + +"Misers often have strange fancies; and Lady Scrope has always been +one of the strangest and most unaccountable of her sex," said +Reuben. "I cannot explain it one whit. It is of a piece with much +of her inscrutable life. All we can do is to give her our gratitude +for her munificence. She has neither kith nor kin to wrong by her +strange liberality to thee, sweet Gertrude; nor can I marvel that +she should have come to love thee so well. Sweet heart, this money +will purchase the house upon the bridge which thy father tells us +he is forced to sell. I had thought that I would buy it of him for +our future home. But thou hast the first claim. At least, now the +place is safe. What is mine is thine, and what is thine is mine, +and we will together make the purchase, and give him a home with us +beneath the old roof. + +"Will that make you happy, dear heart? Methinks it will please Lady +Scrope that her golden hoard should help in such an act of filial +love!" + +And Gertrude could only weep tears of pure happiness on her lover's +shoulder, and marvel how it was that such untold joy had come to +her in the midst of the very shadow of death. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. BRIGHTER DAYS. + + +"The plague is abating! the plague is abating! The bills were lower +by two thousand last week! They say the city is like to go mad with +joy. I would fain go and see what is happening there. Prithee, good +aunt, let me e'en do so much. I shall take no hurt. Methinks, +having escaped all peril heretofore, I may be accounted safe now." + +This was Joseph's eager petition as he rushed homewards after a +stroll in the direction of the town one evening early in October. +There had been rumours of an improvement in the health of the city +for perhaps ten days now, notwithstanding the fearful mortality +during the greater part of September. Therefore were the weekly +bills most eagerly looked for, and when it was ascertained that the +mortality had diminished by two thousand (when, from the number of +sick, it might well have risen by that same amount), it did indeed +seem as though the worst were over; and great was the joy which +Joseph's news brought to those within the walls of that cottage +home. + +Yet Mary Harmer was wise and cautious in the answer she gave to the +eager boy. + +"Wait yet one week longer, Joseph; for we may not presume upon +God's goodness and mercy, and adventure ourselves without cause +into danger. The city has been fearfully ravaged of late. The very +air seems to have been poisoned and tainted, and there are streets +and lanes which, they say, it is even now death to enter. Therefore +wait yet another week, and then we will consider what is safe to be +done. Right glad should I be for news of your father and mother; +but we have been patient this long while, and we will be patient +still." + +"Our good aunt is wise," said Reuben, who looked wonderfully better +for his stay in fresh country air, albeit still rather gaunt and +pale. "It is like that this good news itself may lead men to be +somewhat reckless in their joy and confidence. We will not move +till we have another report. Perchance our father may be able to +let us know ere long of his welfare and that of the rest at home." + +All through the week that followed encouraging and cheering reports +of the abatement of the plague were heard by those living on the +outskirts of the stricken city; and when the next week's bill +showed a further enormous decrease in the death rate, Mary Harmer +permitted Joseph to pay a visit home, his return being eagerly +waited for in the cottage. He came just as the early twilight was +drawing in, and his face was bright and joyous. + +"It is like another city," he cried. "I had not thought there could +be so many left as I saw in the streets today. And they went about +shaking each other by the hand, and smiling, and even laughing +aloud in their joy. And if they saw a shut-up house, and none +looking forth from the windows, some one would stand and shout +aloud till those within looked out, and then he would tell them the +good news that the plague was abating; and at that sound many poor +creatures would fall a-weeping, and praise the Lord that He had +left even a remnant." + +"Poor creatures!" said Mary Harmer with commiseration; "it has been +a dismal year for thousands upon thousands!" + +"Ay, verily. I cannot think that London will ever be full again," +said the boy. "There be whole streets with scarce an inhabitant +left, and we know that multitudes of those who fled died of the +pestilence on the road and in other places. But today there was no +memory for the misery of the past, only joy that the scourge was +abating. It is not that many do not still fall ill of the +distemper, but that they recover now, where once they would have +died. And whereas three weeks back they died in a day or two days, +now even if so be as they do die, it takes the poison eight or ten +days to kill them. The physicians say that that is because the +malignity of the distemper is abating, wherefore men scarce fear it +now, and come freely abroad, not in despair, as they did when it +was so virulent a scourge, but because they fear it so much less +than before." + +"And our parents and those at home?" asked Reuben eagerly. + +"All well, though something weary and worn; but it is wondrous how +they have borne up all through. Father says that he will come +hither to see us all the first moment he can. His duties are like +to have a speedy end; and he is longing for a sight of Reuben's +face, and of something better than closed houses and the wan faces +of the sick or the mourners." + +"Poor brother James!" said Mary softly; "I would that he and his +would leave the city behind for a while, and remain under my roof +to recover their strength and health. It must have been a sorely +trying time. Think you that they could leave the house together? +For we would make shift to receive them all, an they could come." + +This was a most delightful idea to all the party. The hospitable +cottage had plenty of rooms, although many of these were but attics +beneath the thatched roof, none too light or commodious. In summer +they might have been too warm and stuffy to be agreeable sleeping +places, but in the cooler autumn they would be good enough for +hardy young folks brought up simply and plainly. + +Joseph and Benjamin at once dashed all over the place, making plans +for the housing of the whole party. It would be the finest end to a +melancholy period, being all together here in this homelike place. + +Everything was duly arranged in the hopes of winning the father's +consent to the scheme. Mary Harmer hunted up stores of bedding and +linen, the latter of her own weaving, and every day they waited +impatiently for the appearing of James Harmer, who, however, was +unaccountably long in making his appearance. + +He came at last, but it was with a sorrowful face and a bowed look +which told at once a story of trouble, and made the whole party +stand silent, after the first eager chorus of welcome, certain that +he was the bearer of bad news. + +"My poor boy Dan!" he said in a choked voice, and sat himself +heavily down upon the chair beside the hearth. + +"Dan!" cried Reuben, and the word was echoed by all the brothers in +tones of varying surprise and dismay. "You do not mean that he is +dead!" + +"Taken to the plague pit a week ago. Just when all the world is +rejoicing in the thought that the distemper is abating. Dr. Hooker +spoke truly when he said that the confidence of the people was like +to be a greater peril than the disease itself. For those who are +sick now come openly abroad into the streets, no longer afraid for +themselves or others, and thus it has come about that no man knows +whether he is safe, and my poor boy has been taken." + +Sad indeed were the faces of all, and the two little boys were +dissolved in tears, as their father told how poor Dan had fallen +sick, and had succumbed on the fourth day to the poison. + +"Dr. Hooker said that he was worn out with his unceasing labours, +else he would not have died," said the sorrowful father. "He had +treated many worse cases even when things were worse, and brought +them round. But Dan was worn out with all he had been doing for the +past months. He fell an easy prey; and he did not suffer much, +thank God. He lay mostly in a torpor, much as Reuben did, as I +hear, but slowly sank away. His poor mother! She had begun to think +that she was to have all her children about her yet. But in truth +we must not repine, having so many left to us, when they say there +is scarce a family in all the town that has not lost its two, +three, or four at best!" + +It almost seemed a more sorrowful thing to lose Dan just when +things were beginning to look brighter, than it would have done +when the distemper was at its height. But as the good man said, +gratitude for so many spared ought to outweigh any repining for +those taken. After the first tears were shed, he gently checked in +those about him the inclination to mourn, saying that God knew +best, and had dealt very lovingly and bountifully with them; and +that they must trust His goodness and mercy all through, and +believe that He had judged mercifully and tenderly in taking their +brother from them. + +The sight of Reuben alive and well did much to assuage the father's +grief; for there had been a time when he had not thought to look +upon the face of his firstborn in this life. He was also greatly +pleased to learn that he had another daughter in the person of +gentle Gertrude, and he gladly undertook the negotiation of the +purchase of his neighbour's house, so that he should not know who +the purchaser was until the right moment came. + +Mary Harmer's proposal to take in the whole family for a spell of +fresh air and rest was gratefully accepted by the tired father. + +"I trow it would be the greatest boon for all of us, and may likely +save us from some peril," he said, "for, as I say, men seem to be +gone mad with joy that the malignity of the plague is so greatly +abating, and that the houses are no longer closed. For my own part, +I would they were closed yet a little longer; but the impatience of +the people would not now permit it, and they having shown +themselves in the main docile and obedient these many months, must +be considered now that the worst of the peril is past. When the +plague was at its worst last month, there was of necessity some +relaxation of stringent measures, because there were times when +neither watchmen nor nurses could be found, and common humanity +forbade us to close houses when the inhabitants could not get +tendance in the prescribed way. Moreover, a sort of desperation was +bred in men's minds, and the fear was the less because that every +man thought his own turn would assuredly come ere long. So that +when of a sudden the bills began to decrease, it seemed +unreasonable to be more strict than we had been just before. +Moreover, it was found harder to restrain the people in their joy +than in their sorrow; and so we must hope for the best, and trust +that the lessened malignity of the disease will keep down the +mortality. For that there will continue to be many sick for weeks +to come we cannot doubt. As for myself, knowing and fearing all I +do, nothing would more please and comfort me than to bring my wife +and girls hither to this safe spot. I had not dared to think you +could take such a party, Mary; but since you have already made +provision for us, why, the sooner we all get forth from the city, +the better will it please me." + +Great was the joy in the cottage occasioned by this answer. Sorrow +for the loss of poor Dan was almost forgotten in joyful +preparation. Dan had not been much at home for many years, only +coming and going as his ship chanced to put into port in the river +or not. Therefore his loss was not felt as that of Reuben would +have been. It seemed a sad and grievous thing, after having escaped +so many perils, to come to his death at last; but so many families +had suffered such infinitely greater loss, that repining and +mourning seemed almost wrong. And the thought of seeing all the +home faces once more was altogether too delightful to admit of much +admixture of grief. + +"I wonder if Dorcas will come," said Gertrude, as they hung about +the door awaiting the arrival which was expected every minute. + +Three days had now passed since James Harmer's first visit, and he +was to bring his wife and daughters in the afternoon, and stay the +night himself, returning on the morrow to transact some necessary +business, but spending much of his time with his family in this +pleasant spot. + +Gertrude had offered to leave, if there were not room for her; but +in truth she scarce knew where to go, since of her father she had +heard very little of late, and knew not how long his house would be +his own. + +No one, however, would hear of such a thing as that she should +leave them. She was already like a sister to the boys, and had in +old days been as one to the girls. Moreover, as Mary Harmer +sometimes said, why should not she and Reuben be quietly married +out here before they returned to the city, and then they could go +back to their own house when all the negotiations had been +completed and her father's mind relieved of its load of care? + +"Why should Dorcas not come?" asked Mary quickly. "My brother spoke +of bringing all." + +"I was wondering if Lady Scrope would be willing to spare her," was +the reply. "She is fond of Dorcas in her way, and is used to her. +She might not be willing she should go, and she is very determined +when her mind is made up." + +"Yet I think she has a kind heart in spite of all her odd ways," +said Mary Harmer; "I scarce think she would keep the girl pining +there alone. But we shall see. My wonder would rather be if Janet +and Rebecca could get free from the other house where the children +are kept." + +"Father said that that house was to be emptied soon. The Lord Mayor +is making many wise regulations for the support of those left +destitute by the plague. Large sums of money kept flowing in all +the while the scourge lasted. The king sent large contributions, +and other wealthy men followed his example. There be many widows +left alone and desolate, and these are to have a sum of money and +certain orphan children to care for. All that will be settled +speedily; for who knows when my Lady Scrope's house may not be +wanted by the tenant who ran away in such hot haste months ago? It +will need purifying, too, and directions will shortly be issued, I +take it, for the right purification of infected houses. + +"My sisters will soon get their burdens off their hands. It is time +they had a change; they were looking worn and tired even before I +left the city." + +"They are coming! they are coming! They are just here!" shouted +Joseph and Benjamin in one breath, coming rushing down from a +vantage post up to which they had climbed in one of the great elm +trees. "They must all be there--every one of them! It is like a +caravan along the road; but I know it is they, for we saw father +leading a horse, and mother was riding it--with such a lot of bags +and bundles!" + +The next minute the caravan hove in sight through the windings of +the lane, and three minutes later there was such a confusion of +welcomes going on that nothing intelligible could be said on either +side; nor was it until the whole party was assembled round the +table in Mary Harmer's pleasant kitchen, ready to do justice to the +good cheer provided, that any kind of conversation could be +attempted. + +The sisters felt like prisoners released. They laughed and cried as +they danced about the garden in the twilight, stooping down to lay +their faces against the cool, wet grass, and drinking in the +scented air as though it were something to be tasted by palate and +tongue. + +"It is so beautiful! it is so wonderful!" they kept exclaiming one +to the other, and the quaint, rambling cottage, with its bare +floor, and simple, homely comforts, seemed every whit as charming. + +Dorcas was there, as well as Janet and Rebecca; and the three +sisters, together with Gertrude, were to share a pair of attics +with a door of communication between them. + +They were delighted with everything. They kept laughing and kissing +each other for sheer joy of heart; and although a sigh, and a +murmur of "Poor Dan! if only he could be here!" would break at +intervals from one or another, yet in the intense joy of this +meeting, and in the sense of escape from the city in which they had +been so long imprisoned, all but thankfulness and delight must +needs be forgotten, and it was a ring of wonderfully happy faces +that shone on Mary Harmer at the supper board that night. + +"This is indeed a kindly welcome, sister," said Rachel, as she sat +at her husband's right hand, looking round upon the dear faces she +had scarce dared hope to see thus reunited for so many weary weeks; +"I could have desired nothing better for all of us. Thou canst +scarcely know how it does feel to be free once more, to be able to +go where one will, without vinegar cloths to one's face, and to +feel that the air is a thing to breathe with healing and delight, +instead of to be feared lest there be death in its kiss! Ah me! I +think God does not let us know how terrible a thing is till His +chastening hand is removed. We go on from day to day, and He gives +us strength for each day as it comes; but had we known at the +beginning what lay before us, methinks our souls would have well +nigh fainted within us. And yet here we are--all but one--safe and +sound at the other side!" + +"I truly never thought to see such fearful sights, and to come +through such a terrible time of trial," said Dinah very gravely. +She was one of the party included in Mary Harmer's hospitable +invitation, and looked indeed more in need of the rest and change +than any of the others. Her brother had had some ado to get her to +quit her duties as nurse to the sick even yet, but it was not +difficult now to get tendance for them, and she felt so greatly the +need of rest that she had been persuaded at last. + +"Many and many are the times when I have been left the only living +being in a house--once, so far as I could tell, the only living +thing in a whole street! None may know, save those who have been +through it, the awful loneliness of being so shut in, with nothing +near but dead bodies. And yet the Lord has brought me through, and +only one of our number has been taken." + +The mother's eyes filled with tears, but her heart was too thankful +for those spared her to let her grief be loud. One after another +those round the table spoke of the things they had seen and heard; +but presently the talk drifted to brighter themes. Gertrude asked +eagerly of her father, and where he was and what he was doing; and +Mary Harmer asked if he would not come and join them, if her house +could be made to hold another inmate. + +"He is well in health, but looks aged and harassed," was the answer +of the father. "He has had sad losses. Half-finished houses have +been thrown back on his hands through the death of those who had +commenced them; he has been robbed of his stores of costly +merchandise; and poor Frederick's debts have mounted up to a great +sum. Now that people are flocking back into the city, and business +is reviving once more, he will have to meet his creditors, and can +only do this by the sale of his house. I saw him yesterday, and +told him I had heard of a purchaser already; whereat he was right +glad, fearing that he might be long in selling, since men might +fear to come back to the city, and whilst there were so many +hundreds of houses left empty. If he can once get rid of his load +of debt, he can strive to begin business again in a modest way. +But, to be sure, it will be long before any houses will need to be +built; the puzzle will be how to fill those that are left empty. I +fear me he will find things hard for a while. But if he has a home +with you, my children, and if we all give what help we can, I doubt +not that little by little he may recover a part of what he has +lost. He will be wise not to try so many different callings. If he +had not had so many ventures afloat in these troubled times, he +would not now have lost his all." + +"That was poor mother's wish," said Gertrude softly; "she wanted to +be rich quickly for Frederick's sake. I used to hear father tell +her that the risk was too great; but she did not seem able to +understand aright. I do not think it was father's own wish." + +"That is what I always said," answered James Harmer heartily; "and +I trow things will be greatly better now, if once trade makes a +start again. As for us, we have lost a summer's trade, but, beyond +that, all has been well with us. We have had the fewer outgoings, +and so soon as the gentry and the Court come back again we shall be +as busy as ever. The plague has done us little harm, for we had no +great ventures afloat to miscarry, and had money laid by against +any time of necessity." + +That evening, before the party retired to rest, the father gathered +his children and all the household about him, and offered a fervent +thanksgiving for their preservation during this time of peril. +After that they all separated to their own rooms, and the girls sat +long together ere they sought their couches, talking, as girls will +talk, of all that had happened to them, and of the coming marriage +of Gertrude and their brother, over which they heartily rejoiced. + +"I must e'en let Lady Scrope know when it is to be," said Dorcas, +"if I can make shift to do so. I trow she would like to be there. +She has taken a wondrous liking to thee, Gertrude, and she says she +has a fine opinion of Reuben, too. I know not quite what she has +heard of him, but so it is." + +"I was fearful lest she should not be willing to spare thee, +Dorcas," said Gertrude with a caress, "but here thou art with the +rest." + +"Yes, she was wondrous good to us," said Janet eagerly, "else I +scarce know how we could have come, for there were six children +left in the house, and no homes yet found for them to go to. They +were the sickly ones whom we feared to part with, and father said +they would strive to get places for them in the country. When we +heard what our kind aunt wished, we saw not how we could leave the +little ones; but Lady Scrope, she up and chid us well for silly, +puling fools, who thought the world could not wag without our help. +And then she sent out and got two nice, comfortable, honest widow +women to live in the house with the children. And one of them had a +neat-fingered daughter, who had been in good service till the +plague sent her family into the country and she was packed off +home. Her she took for her maid, and sent Dorcas off with us. Sure, +never was a sharper tongue and a kinder heart in one body together! +I had never thought to like Lady Scrope one-tenth part as well as I +do." + +Those were happy days that followed. It was pure delight to the +sisters to wander about the green fields and lanes, watching the +play of light and shadow there, hearing the songs of the birds, and +seeing the gorgeous pageantry of autumn clothing the trees with all +manner of wondrous tints and hues. Reuben knew the neighbourhood by +that time, and was their companion in their rambles; and happy were +the hours thus spent, only less happy than the meetings round the +glowing hearth or hospitable table later on, when the news of the +day would be told and retold. + +James Harmer went frequently into the city to see after certain +things, and to ascertain that his own and his neighbour's houses +were safe. What he saw and heard there day by day made him +increasingly glad that big family had found so safe a retreat; for +there was still some considerable peril to the dwellers in the +city, owing, more than anything, to the utter carelessness of the +people now that the immediate scare was removed. + +The same men who had shrunk away from all contact with even sound +persons six weeks ago, would now actually visit and hold converse +with those who had the disease upon them. Persons afflicted with +tumours that were still active and therefore infectious would walk +openly about the streets, none seeming to object to their presence +even in crowded thoroughfares. It seemed as though joy at the +abatement of the pestilence had wrought a sort of madness in the +brains and hearts of the people. So long as the death rate +decreased, and the cases were no longer so fatal in character, +there seemed no way of making the citizens observe proper +precautions, and, as many averred, the malady increased and spread, +although not in nearly so fatal a form, as it never need have done +but for the recklessness of the multitudes. + +One very sorrowful case was brought home to the Harmers, because it +happened to some worthy neighbours of their own who had lived +opposite to them for many a year. + +When first the alarm was given that the plague had entered within +the city walls, this man had hastily decided to quit London with +his wife and family and seek an asylum in the country, and had +earnestly urged the Harmers to do the same. For many months nothing +had been heard of them; but with the first abatement of the malady +the father had appeared, and had asked advice from Harmer as to how +soon he might bring home his family, who were all sound and well. +His friend advised him to wait another month at least; but he +laughed such counsel to scorn, and just before the Harmers +themselves started for Islington, their friends had settled +themselves in their old house opposite. + +Ten days later Harmer heard with great dismay that three of the +children had taken the plague and had died. By the end of the week +there was not one of the family alive save the unhappy man himself, +and he went about like one distraught, so that his reason or his +life seemed like to pay the forfeit. + +It was no wonder, in the hearing of such stories as these--of which +there were many--that Mary Harmer rejoiced to have her brother's +household safely housed and out of danger, and that she earnestly +begged them to remain with her at least until the merry +Christmastide should be overpast. + + + +CHAPTER XV. A CHRISTMAS WEDDING. + + +"I never thought to see daughter of mine wedded from the house of a +neighbour," said the Master Builder (whose title yet clung to him, +albeit there was something of mockery in the sound), heaving a sigh +as he looked into the happy face of his child. "But a homeless man +must needs do the best he can; and our good friends have won the +right to play the part of kinsfolk towards us both." + +"Indeed--indeed they have, dear father," answered Gertrude; "thou +canst not think how happy I have been here in this sweet cottage, +nor what a home it has been to us all these weeks. I shall be +almost loth to leave it on the morrow--at least I should be, were +it not for the great happiness coming into my life. But the home to +which Reuben will take me must be even dearer than this. And thou +wilt come with us, sweet father, and make us happy by thy +presence!" + +"Ay, child, if thou wilt have the homeless old man who has managed +his affairs so ill as to have to start life afresh when he should +be thinking of resigning his work into other hands, and passing his +old age in peace and--" + +But Gertrude stopped him with a kiss. + +"Thou art not old, father; and I trow before thou art, a peaceful +and prosperous old age will be in store for thee. Whilst Reuben and +I live, nothing shall lack to thee that filial love can bestow. O +dearest father! methinks there are bright and happy days before us +yet." + +"I trust so--I trust so, my child, for thee especially. For thou +dost deserve them. Thou hast been a good daughter, and wilt make a +good wife." + +"My heart misgives me sometimes that I was not always so tender a +daughter to poor mother as I fain would have been. May God pardon +me in whatever way I may have erred!" + +"The error was more hers than thine," answered the father with a +sigh; "and mine too, inasmuch as I checked her not early, as I +perchance might have done. She would have wed thee with some needy +and perhaps evil-living gallant, who would have taken thee for thy +fortune. Thou hast done far better to choose such an honest, godly +youth as Reuben. He will make thee an excellent husband." + +"Ah, will he not!" said Gertrude, her face alight with tender love. +"Poor mother did not understand what she was doing in striving to +banish him from the house. But methinks, in the land of spirits all +these things are seen aright; and that if it is permitted to the +dead to know aught of what passes in the land they have left +behind, she will be rejoicing with us today." + +"Heaven send it may be so! My poor wife," and the father heaved a +great sigh of mixed feelings, "it is well she has not lived to see +this end to her schemings to be rich. At least she is spared the +knowledge of her husband's ruin." + +"Nay, call it not that, dear father. Master Harmer says that things +are beginning to look up again after the terrible visitation, and +surely your affairs will look up likewise." + +"In a measure, yes," he answered. "I have at least sold the old +house for a better sum than I expected; and the purchaser has +bought all the rich furniture, save such things as I would not sell +for the sake of your poor mother. These I shall move shortly to +your home, my child. My good friend says that it is hard by his +house, so the journey will not be a difficult one." + +"No, father," answered Gertrude, with glowing cheeks. "And who has +bought the old Bridge house?" + +"Nay, I have not even had the heart to ask. My good friend has +carried out the business for me from first to last. He has been the +truest friend man ever had. I have had naught to do but to sign the +papers and receive the purchase money. No doubt the pang of seeing +others living there will pass in time, but just now I care not even +to think of it." + +Gertrude's face was still glowing a rosy red, but she turned the +conversation at once. + +"And thou art getting together a little business again, father, on +the Southwark side of the river?" + +"Yes; that again is by the advice of our good neighbour. He showed +me that I could no longer afford the large buildings in the Chepe. +He heard of these small premises going a-begging for a purchaser, +all connected with them having perished in the plague. The small +sum left to me of the purchase money of the house, after my debts +were paid, sufficed to buy them; and now I have two steady workmen +in my employ, instead of the scores I once had. But God be thanked, +we have never been idle all these weeks. And it may be that +by-and-by, as confidence returns, I may get something of a business +together again." + +"Thou hast been purifying and disinfecting houses, they say, for +the wealthy ones of the city?" + +"Ay; that was our good friend's thought. The Lord Mayor and +authorities issued general directions for this work; and Harmer +suggested to me that I should print handbills offering to undertake +the purging of any house entrusted to me for a fixed fee. This I +did, and have had my hands full ever since. All the fine folks are +crowding back now that the cold weather has come, but no one cares +to venture within his house till it has been purified by the +burning of aromatic drugs and spices. The rich care not what they +spend, so that they are sure they are free from danger. As for the +poor, they do but burn tar or pitch or sulphur; and methinks these +do just as well, save that the odour which hangs about is not so +grateful to the senses. Yes, it was a happy thought of good James +Harmer, and has put money in my pocket enough to enable me to +undertake small building matters without borrowing. But I trow it +will be long ere any building is wanted in and about the city. +There are too many empty houses left there for that." + +"Shall I see a wondrous change there when I go back, father?" + +"A change, but a wondrous small one compared to what one would +suppose," answered the father. "All men are amazed to see how +quickly the streets have filled, and how little of change there is +to note in the outward aspect of things. I had thought that half +the houses would be left empty; but I think there be not more than +one-eighth without inhabitants, and these are filling up apace. To +be sure, in the once crowded lanes and alleys there are far fewer +people than before; but it is wonderful to see how small the change +is; and life goes on just as of old. It is as if the calamity was +already half forgot!" + +"Nay but, father, I trust it is not forgotten, and that men's +consciences are stirred, and that they have taken to heart the +warning of God's just anger." + +The Master Builder slightly shook his head. + +"I fear not, child, I fear not. I hear the same oaths and +blasphemies, the same ribald jests and ungodly talk, as of old. +They say the Court, which has lately returned to Whitehall, is as +gay and wanton as ever. In face of the terror of death, men did +resolve to amend their ways; but I fear me, that terror being past, +they do but make a mock of it, and return, like the sow in +Scripture, to their wallowing in the mire." + +Gertrude looked gravely sorrowful for a moment; but, on the eve of +her wedding day, she could not be sorrowful long. She and her +father were enjoying a talk together before she sought her couch. +He had been unable to come earlier to see her, business matters +having detained him in town. For the past two months he had been at +work with his task of purifying and setting in order the houses of +the better-class people, for their return thither after the plague; +and though he had sent many affectionate messages to his daughter, +this was the first time for several weeks that they had met. It +could not but rankle in the father's heart that, for the time +being, he had no home to offer to his child. He had been staying +with his good friend James Harmer all this while, who had left his +wife and family at Islington to regain their full health and +strength, while he spent his time between the Bridge house and the +cottage. His business required his presence at home during a part +of the week, since his shopmen and apprentices had already +returned; but he would not permit his family to do so just yet, +deeming it better for them to remain with his sister, and to enjoy +with her a period of rest and refreshment which could never be +theirs in the busy life of home. + +A happy Christmas had thus been spent; and now it was the eve of +Gertrude's wedding day, which was the one following Christmas Day. +The Master Builder had spent the festival with his friends, and on +the morrow would accompany his daughter and her husband to their +home in the city, the Harmer family returning to their house at the +same time, and bringing Mary with them on a visit after all her +hospitality to them. + +By nine o'clock the next morning, the quiet little wedding party +was approaching the church, when to their surprise they beheld a +fine coach, drawn by four horses, drawing up at the gate of the +churchyard; and before Dorcas had more than time to exclaim, "Why, +it is my Lady Scrope herself!" they saw that diminutive but +remarkable old dame alighting from it, and walking nimbly up the +path towards the porch. + +"I never dreamed she would really come, albeit I did let her know +the day according to promise--or rather to her command," said her +handmaiden, hurrying after her as if by instinct. The little figure +in its sables and strangely-fashioned velvet bonnet turned at the +sound of the quick footfall; and there stood the old lady scanning +the whole party with her bead-like eyes, and giving little nods to +this one and the other in response to their respectful reverences. + +"A pretty pair! a pretty pair!" was her comment upon the bridal +couple, who walked together, and who certainly looked very handsome +and happy. Reuben had regained strength and colour, though his face +was thinner and finer in outline than it had been before his +illness; and Gertrude had always been something of a beauty, and +had greatly improved in looks during these weeks of happiness. + +"Well, well, well! I am always sorry for folks who are tying +burdens round their own necks; but some can do it with a better +grace than others. + +"Now, child," and she turned to Gertrude, and rapped her cane upon +the ground, "don't make a fool of yourself or your husband! Don't +begin by thinking him the best man in the world; else he may turn +out all too soon to be the worst. Don't let him trample upon you. +Hold your own with him. + +"Pooh! I might as well spare my words. Poor fools, they are all +alike at starting. They only learn to sing to another tune when +experience has taken them in hand for a while. Well, well, well! +'tis a pretty sight after all. I'll say no more. Give me your arm, +good Master Harmer, and let me have a good view of the tying of +this knot, so that there shall be no slipping out of it later." + +James Harmer, with a bow which he made as courtly as he knew how, +offered his arm to the curious, little, old lady; and strange it +was to see her small, richly-clad, upright figure amongst the +simple group before the altar that day. Many there were who +wondered what had brought her, and amongst the party themselves +none could answer the question. It appeared to be one of those +freaks for which, in old days, Lady Scrope had made herself famous +throughout London, and the habit of which had not been overcome, +although the opportunities were growing smaller with advancing +years. + +She insisted on accompanying the party back to Mary Harmer's +cottage. A simple collation was awaiting them before they travelled +back to the city. Lady Scrope looked with the greatest interest and +curiosity at the cottage; received the inquiring advances of Fido +very graciously; made the boys tell her all the history of his +attaching himself to them; and finally made herself the most +entertaining and agreeable guest at the board, although the +sharpness of her speech and the acid favour of some of her remarks +bred a little uneasiness in some of her auditors. + +Nevertheless the time passed pleasantly enough; and when the hands +of the clock pointed to the hour of eleven, the lady rose to her +feet and remarked incisively: + +"My coach will be here immediately, if the varlets play me not +false. The bride, bridegroom, and the bride's father shall drive +with me. I mean to see the maiden's house before I return to mine +own." + +A glowing colour was in Gertrude's face. Now she began to have a +clearer idea why Lady Scrope was there. Reuben had been to her +once, and had asked her approval of their plan to expend the bulk +of the dowry she had, with such eccentric and unaccountable +generosity, bestowed upon the bride, upon the purchase of the house +which had been for many generations in the family of her father, +and which she loved well from old associations. + +Reuben was going to set up in business for himself now. He had long +been contemplating this step, since his father's trade was +increasing steadily. They would now be partners, Reuben taking one +branch of the industry, and leaving his father the other. With the +changes in fashions, changes in the manufacture of Court luxuries +became necessary. Reuben would advance with the times, his father +would remain where he was before. It was a plan which had been +carefully considered by both father and son for long, and would +have been earlier carried out had it not been for the disastrous +stoppage of all trade during the visitation of the plague. + +Now, however, London seemed as gay as ever. Orders were pouring in. +It was wonderful how little the gaps in the ranks seemed to be +heeded. It was scarcely, even amongst the upper classes, that +persons troubled to wear the deep mourning for departed friends +which, under ordinary circumstances, they would have done. The +great wish of all appeared to be to forget the awful visitation as +fast as possible, and to drown the memory of it in feasting and +revelry. And this spirit, however little to the liking of a godly +man like James Harmer, was nevertheless good for his trade. + +Lady Scrope being in the secret of the surprise in store for the +Master Builder, was anxious to amuse herself by being witness to +his enlightenment; and it certainly seemed as though she had full +right thus to amuse herself, if it were her desire. Reuben had some +savings of his own; but the purchase of the house, had it been made +by him alone, would have seriously crippled his ability to carry +out his further plans of business. Thus it was really Lady Scrope's +golden guineas which had paved the way for the young people, and no +one could grudge her the enjoyment of seeing them arrive at their +new home. + +The Master Builder had had some dealings of late with her ladyship; +for on hearing what he was employed to do for so many of her friends, +she summoned him to fumigate both of her houses when she had got rid +of all her temporary inmates; and she followed him about, watching +what he did, and amusing herself with making him relate all the +gossip he had picked up relative to her acquaintances into whose +houses he had been admitted: how many amongst them had had the +plague, how many had died, and all the other details that her +insatiable curiosity could glean from him. + +And now the bridal couple, together with the bride's father, were +being driven in state through the widest thoroughfares of the city +in the hired chariot of Lady Scrope, she chatting all the while, +and pointing out this thing and that as they went, openly lamenting +that so little remained to remind them of the plague, and +prophesying that London had not done with calamity yet. + +Gertrude was amazed at the small change in the familiar streets as +they neared their home. True, she saw more strange faces than she +had been wont to do, and read new names and new signs upon the +gaily-painted boards hanging over the shop doors. Again and again +she missed from some accustomed doorway the familiar face of the +former owner, and saw that a stranger had taken the old business. +But then, again, others were there in their old places; friendly +faces beamed upon her as she looked out of the window. It was known +upon the bridge itself that she was to come back today; and though +the appearance of this fine coach caused a little thrill of +surprise, there was a fine buzz of welcome as Reuben put out his +head and stopped the postillion at the familiar door; for so many +fears had been entertained of Reuben's death, that there were those +who could not believe they should see him again in the flesh until +he stood before them. + +"What means all this? Why stop ye here?" asked the Master Builder, +with a little agitation in his voice. "You have a home of your own, +you told me, Reuben, to which to take your wife. Why stop you at +your father's house? Let the postillion drive to your own abode." + +"This is our own abode, dear father," said Gertrude softly, +alighting from the coach and taking him by the hand to lead him in. + +Her other hand was held by her husband; and Lady Scrope was +forgotten for the moment by all, as the three passed the familiar +threshold amid a chorus of good wishes from friends and neighbours, +to which Reuben responded by a variety of signs, Gertrude being too +much moved to notice them. + +"Dear father," she said, as they stood within the lower room, which +was being now fitted as of old for a shop, "forgive us if we have +kept our happy secret till now. We wanted to have the home ready +ere we brought you to it. This is our home. A wonderful thing +befell me. A dowry was bestowed upon me by a generous patroness, +from whom I looked not to receive a penny; that dowry bought the +house. Reuben's business will give us an ample livelihood. Thou +wilt remain always with us in the dear old house which thou hast +loved. Oh how happy we shall be--how wondrously happy! + +"Father dear, it was Lady Scrope who gave me the wonderful gift +that has brought us all this. We must try to thank her ere we think +of ourselves more." + +So speaking Gertrude turned, with her eyes full of happy tears, +towards Lady Scrope, who stood only a few paces off watching +everything with her accustomed intense scrutiny, and held out both +her hands in a sweet and simple gesture expressive of so much +feeling that the old dame felt an unwonted mist rising in her eyes. + +"Tut, tut, tut, child! I want no thanks. What good did the gold do +me, thinkest thou, shut away in yonder box? What think you I had +preserved it there for? Marry that I might fling it away at dice or +cards with those who came to visit me? It was my pleasure money, as +I chose to call it. And then came the plague and smote hip and +thigh amongst those who called me friend. And what good did the +gold do me or any person else? If it pleases me to throw it away on +a pair of fools, whose business is that but mine? + +"There, there, there, that will do, all of you good people. I want +to see the house. I want none of your fool's talk. Going to keep a +shop here?--sensible man. I'll come and buy all my finery when you +start business, and sit and gossip at the counter the while. So +mind you have plenty of fine folks to gossip with me. If I were +young again, I vow I'd keep a shop myself." + +And she made Reuben show samples of his goods, which were piled up +in readiness, albeit he was not quite ready to open shop; and very +excellent of their kind they were, as Lady Scrope was not slow to +remark. + +"I'll send the whole city to you. I'll make you the fashion yet. If +I were a younger woman, and had my own old train of gallants after +me, I'd have made your fortune for you before the year was out. But +I'll do something yet, you shall see. And mind that you never begin +to lend money, young man, to any needy young fool who may ask it of +you. Those greedy court gallants would eat up all the gold of the +Indies, and be no whit the richer for it. No money lending, young +man, for in that way lies ruin, as too many have found." + +The Master Builder winced like one touched in a tender part, whilst +Reuben answered boldly: + +"I have no such intentions. I hate usury, nor care I to earn money +for others to filch from me. I get my wealth by honest trade; and +if any man comes to me for aid, all the help I can give him is to +put him in the way of doing the like." + +Lady Scrope nodded her head and laughed her shrill witch-like +laugh. + +"He! he! he! Offer honest work to a needy gallant! May I be there +to hear when thou dost. Work, forsooth!--a turn at the galleys +would do most of them a power of good. Well, well, well, young man, +thou speakest sound sense. Thou shouldst prosper in thy business. + +"Now, girl, show me the rest of the house, for I must needs be +getting home ere long. I shall weary my old bones with all this +gadding to and fro." + +Gertrude was willing enough to obey. The house was hardly changed +from the time she had left it, save that all which was faded and +worn had been replaced and furbished anew, and the whole place made +sweet and wholesome, and as clean and bright as hands could make +it. Gertrude would have preferred a plainer and simpler abode, more +like that of her neighbours; but she had not had the heart to undo +all her mother's dainty handiwork, and Reuben had thought nothing +too good for his bride. + +Lady Scrope gibed and jeered a little, but not unkindly. She knew +all the family history by this time, and how that Gertrude was not +responsible for the luxuries with which her life would be +surrounded. + +"Go to, child, go to; I am no judge over thee. What matters it a +few years earlier or later? It began in Shakespeare's time, as you +may read if you will, and it grows worse every generation. Soon the +shopmen and traders will be the fine gentlemen of the land, and we +may hope for the pickings and leavings of their tables. What does +it matter to me? I shall not be troubled by it. And if I be not +troubled thereby, what matter if all the world goes mad? + +"Now fare you well, young folks; and thou, good Master Builder, +thank Heaven for a good and dutiful daughter, for they grow not on +every hedge in these graceless days. + +"See me to my coach, young man, if thou canst leave devouring thy +wife with thine eyes for so much as a minute. + +"Poor fools! poor fools! both of you. + +"Give me a kiss, maiden--nay, mistress I must call thee now. Be a +good child, and be not too meek. Remember the fate of the hapless +Griselda." + +Nodding her head and shaking her finger, Lady Scrope vanished down +the stairs upon Reuben's arm; and Gertrude, moved beyond her powers +of self restraint by all she had gone through, flung herself into +her father's arms, and the two mingled together their tears of +thankfulness and joy. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. A FLAMING CITY. + + +Many happy months passed away, and the great city began to forget +the terrible calamity through which it had passed. There was a +little fear at first when the summer set in exceptionally hot and +dry--very much as it had done the preceding year; but the plague +seemed to have wreaked its full vengeance upon the inhabitants, and +there was no fresh outbreak, although isolated cases were reported, +as was usual, from time to time, and sometimes a slight passing +scare would upset the minds of men in a certain locality, to be +shortly laid at rest when no further ill followed. + +The two houses on the bridge, standing sociably side by side, were +pleasant and flourishing places of business. Benjamin was now +apprenticed to his brother Reuben, his old master the carpenter +having fallen a victim to the plague. Dorcas remained with Lady +Scrope, who was now reckoned as a kind friend and patroness to the +Harmers, father and son. Rebecca fulfilled her old functions of the +useful daughter at home, though it was thought she would not long +remain there, as she was being openly courted by a young mercer in +Southwark, who had bought a business left without head through the +ravages of the plague, and was rapidly working it up to something +considerable and successful. + +The Master Builder, too, was getting on, although still doing a +very small trade compared to what he had done before. Many of his +patrons were dead, others had been scared away altogether from +London for the present, and with so many vacant houses to fill +nobody cared to think of building. Still he found employment of a +kind, and was never idle, although things were very different from +what they had been, and he thought rather of paying his way in a +quiet fashion than of building up a great fortune. He lived in the +old house with his daughter and son-in-law, and was happier than in +the old days, when his wife had always been trying to make him ape +the ways of the gentry, and his son had been wearying his life out +with ceaseless importunities for money, which would only be wasted +in drunkenness and rioting. + +Now the days passed happily and peacefully. Gertrude was a loving +wife and a loving daughter. Her father's comfort and welfare were +studied equally with that of her husband. She did her utmost not to +permit him ever to feel lonely or neglected, and she considered his +needs as his own fine-lady wife had never thought of doing. + +He had also his friends next door to visit, where he was always +welcome. There was now another door of communication opened between +the two houses, and almost every evening the Master Builder would +drop in for an hour to smoke a pipe with his friend and exchange +the news of the day, leaving the young married couple to +themselves, for a happy interchange of affection and confidences. + +The Harmer household remained unchanged, save for the death of Dan +and the marriage of Reuben; but the sailor had been so little at +home, that there was no great blank left by his absence, and Reuben +was too close at hand to be greatly missed. Janet had not returned +to service. Her mother had been rather horrified at the manner in +which the poor girl had been treated by her mistress when the +plague had appeared in the house. She did not care to send her back +to Lady Howe, and Janet had become so accomplished a nurse, and +took such interest in the life, that she begged to be allowed to +follow the calling of her aunt Dinah, and to spend her time amongst +the sick, wherever she might be needed. So both she and Dinah Morse +lived at the house on the bridge, but went about amongst the sick +in the neighbourhood, generally directed by Dr. Hooker, but +sometimes called specially to urgent cases by neighbours or +friends. Sometimes they returned home at night to sleep, sometimes +they remained for several days or weeks at a time with their +patients, according to their degree and the urgency of the case. +Janet found herself very well content in her new life, and her +mother liked it for her, since it brought her so much more to her +home. + +It began to be noted that when Dinah Morse was at the house on the +occasions of the visits of the Master Builder, he addressed a great +part of his conversation to her, seemed never to weary hearing her +talk, and would sit looking reflectively at her when other people +were doing the talking. He had never forgotten how she had come to +them in their hour of dire need, when poor Frederick had sickened +of the fell disease which so soon carried him off. He always +declared that her tenderness to his wife and daughter at that time +had been beyond all price, and it seemed as though his sense of +obligation and gratitude did not lessen with time. + +Sometimes James Harmer would say smilingly to his wife: + +"Methinks our good neighbour hath a great fancy for Dinah. I always +do say that such a woman as she ought to be the wife of some good +honest man. They might do worse, both of them, than think of +marriage. What think you of Dinah? Tends her fancy that way at +all?" + +And at that question Rachel would shake her head wisely and +respond: + +"Dinah is not one to wear her heart upon her sleeve! A woman hides +her secret in her heart till the right time comes for giving an +answer. But we shall see! we shall see!" + +In this manner the spring and summer passed happily and quickly +away. + +August had come and gone, and now the first days of September had +arrived. The heat still continued very great, and a parching east +wind had been blowing for many weeks, which had dried up the +woodwork of the houses till it was like tinder. Sometimes the +Master Builder, coming home from his work of repairing or altering +some house either great or small, would say: + +"I would we could get rain. This long drought is something serious. +I never knew the houses so dry and parched as they are now. If a +fire were to break out, it would be no small matter to extinguish +it. The water supply is very low, and the whole city is like +tinder." + +It was Saturday night. The sun had gone down like a great ball of +fire, and Gertrude had observed to her husband how it had dyed the +river a peculiarly blood-red hue. One of those wandering fortune +tellers, who had paraded the city so often during the early days of +the plague (till the poor wretches were themselves carried off in +great numbers by it), had passed down the street once or twice +during the day, and had been always chanting a rude song like a +dirge, in which many woes were said to be hanging over London town. + +These prognostications had been frequent since the appearance in +the sky of another comet, which had been seen on all clear nights +of late. It had considerably alarmed the citizens, who remembered +the comet of the previous year, and the terrible visitation which +had followed. This one was not very like the former; it was far +more bright, and burning, and red, and its motion appeared more +rapid in the sky. The soothsayers and astrologers, of which there +were still plenty left, all averred that it bespoke some fresh +calamity hanging over the city, and for a while there was +considerable alarm in many minds, and some families actually left +London, fearful that the plague would again break out there; but by +this time the panic had well nigh died down. The comet ceased to be +seen in the sky, and even the mournful words of the fortune tellers +did not attract the notice they had done at first. The summer was +waning, and no sickness had appeared; and of any other kind of +calamity the people did not appear to dream. + +The Master Builder had gone in as usual to the next house to have a +talk with his neighbour. But tonight he looked in vain for Dinah. + +"She and Janet have both been summoned to a fine lady who is sick +in a grand house nigh to St. Paul's. Dr. Hooker fetched them +thither this morning. They will be well paid for their work, he +says. The lady has sickened of a fever, and some of her household +took fright lest it should be the plague, albeit the symptoms are +quite different. So he must needs take both Dinah and Janet with +him, that she might be rightly served and tended. Tomorrow Joseph +shall go and ask news of her, and get speech with Janet if he can, +and learn how it fares with her. I confess I am glad, when she goes +to fine houses, that Dinah should be there also. Janet is a pretty +creature, and those young gallants think of nothing but to amuse +themselves by turning girls' heads, be they ever so humble. + +"Ah me! ah me! there is a vast deal of wickedness in the world! I +cannot wonder that men foretell some fresh calamity upon this city. +I am sure some of the things we hear and see--well, well, well, we +must not judge others. It is enough that judgment and vengeance are +the Lord's." + +Rachel stopped short because she saw the look of pain which always +came into the Master Builder's face when he thought of his +profligate young son, cut off in the prime of his youthful manhood, +and that without any assurance on the part of those about him that +he had repented of the error of his ways. The carelessness and +wickedness of the young men of the city were always a sore subject, +and he still winced when the pranks of the Scourers were commented +upon by his neighbours. + +"It is my Lady Desborough who has fallen ill," concluded Rachel, +anxious to turn the subject. "Methinks you had some dealings with +her lord not such very long time since. The name fell familiarly +upon my ears." + +"Yes, truly, I did much to garnish their house, and I built out a +private parlour for my lady, all of looking glass and gilding. Not +long since I purified the house for them with the costliest of +spices. Lord Desborough thinks all the world of his beauteous lady. +They are devoted to each other, which is a goodly thing to see in +these days. He will be greatly alarmed if she be seriously +indisposed. He is a right worthy gentleman; and with thy permission +I will accompany Joseph to St. Paul's tomorrow and learn the latest +tidings of her." + +"With all my heart," answered the mother; and soon after that the +Master Builder took his departure, and both houses settled to rest +for the night. + +It might have been two or three o'clock in the morning, none could +say exactly how time went on that memorable day, when the Master +Builder was awakened by sounds in the adjoining chamber, where +Reuben and his wife slept; and before he was fully awake, he heard +Gertrude's voice at his door crying out: + +"O father, father! there is such a dreadful fire! Reuben is going +out to see where it is. Methinks it must be very nigh at hand. +Prithee go with him, and see that he comes to no hurt!" + +The Master Builder was awake in an instant, and although it was an +hour at which the room should be dark, he found it quite +sufficiently light to dress without trouble, owing to the red glare +of fire somewhere in the neighbourhood. + +"Pray Heaven it be not very near us!" was the cry of his heart as +he hurried into his clothes, remembering his own auguries of a +short time back respecting the spread of fire, if once it got a +hold upon a street or building. + +He was dressed in a moment, and had joined Reuben as the latter was +feeling his way to the fastenings of the door. Two of the shopmen, +who slept below, were already aroused and wishful to join them; and +as they emerged into the street, which was quite light with the +palpitating glow of fire, the door of the Harmers' house opened to +admit the exit of the master of the house and his son Joseph. + +"Thou hast seen it also! I fear me it is very nigh at hand. I had a +good look from my topmost window, and methought it must surely be +in Long Lane or in Pudding Lane; certainly it is in one of the +narrow thoroughfares turning off northward from Thames Street. It +must have been burning for some while. It seems to have taken firm +hold. Belike the poor creatures there are all too terrified to do +aught to check the spread of the flames. We must see what can be +done. It will not do to let the flames get a hold. This strong dry +wind will spread them west and north with terrible speed, if +something be not done to check them!" + +James Harmer spoke with the air of a man who is used to offices of +authority. He had exercised one so long during the crisis of the +plague, that the habit of thinking for his fellow citizens still +clung to him. It appeared to him to be his bounden duty to do what +he could to save life and property; and all the time he spoke he +was hastening along the bridge in the direction of the smoke clouds +and flames. + +The Master Builder hurried along at his side, and before they had +reached the end of the bridge there were quite a dozen of the +householders or their servants joining the procession to the scene +of the conflagration. Until they reached the corner of Thames +Street they saw nothing beyond the red column of flame and the +showers of sparks mingling with clouds of smoke; but when once they +reached the corner, a terrible sight was revealed to them, for the +whole block of buildings between Pudding Lane and New Fish Street +was a mass of flames, and the fire seemed to be like a living +thing, driven onwards before some mighty compelling power. + +"God preserve us all! it will be upon us in an hour if nothing be +done to check it," cried Harmer in sudden dismay. + +"What is being done? What are the people doing?" cried a score of +voices. + +But what indeed could the terrified people do, wakened out of their +sleep in the dead of night to find their houses burning about their +ears? They were running helter skelter this way and that, not +knowing which way to turn, like so many frightened sheep. Not that +they thought as yet that this fire was going to be so very +different from other bad fires which some of them had seen; for +their wooden and plaster houses burned down too readily at all +times, and were built up easily enough afterwards. A little farther +off the people were trying to get their goods out of the houses, +that they might not lose all if the fire came their way. But those +actually burned out seemed to do nothing but stand helplessly by +looking on; and perhaps it was only the Master Builder himself who +at this moment realized that there was a very serious peril +threatening the whole quarter of the city where the fire had broken +out, and had already taken such hold. + +The wind being slightly north as well as east in its direction, it +seemed reasonable to hope that the conflagration would not cross +Thames Street in a southerly direction, in which case the bridge +would be safe; and, indeed, as New Fish Street was a fairly wide +thoroughfare, it was rather confidently hoped that this might prove +a check to the fire. The Master Builder ran up the street crying +out to the terrified inhabitants to get all the water they could +and fling it upon the roofs and walls of their dwellings, to strive +to keep the flames at bay; but there was scarcely one to listen or +try to obey. The people were all hurrying out of their houses, +bringing their families and their goods and chattels with them. The +street was so blocked by hand carts and jostling crowds, that it +was hopeless to attempt any plan of organization here. + +Then all too soon a cry went up that the fire had leaped the street +and had ignited a house on the west side. A groan and a scream of +terror went up as it was seen that this was all too true, and +already great waves of flame seemed to be rushing onwards as if +driven from the mouth of some vast blasting furnace; and the Master +Builder returned to his friends with a very grave face. + +"Heaven send the whole city be not destroyed!" he exclaimed; "never +have I seen fire like unto this fire! + +"Reuben, lad, make thy way with all speed to the Lord Mayor, and +tell him of the peril in which we stand. He is the man to find +means to check this fearful conflagration. Would to Heaven it were +good Sir John Lawrence who were Mayor, as he was in the days of the +plague! He was a man of spirit, and courage, and resource. But I +much fear me that poor Bludworth has little of any of these +qualities. Nevertheless go to him, Reuben. Tell him what thou hast +seen, and tell him that if he wishes not to see London burned about +his ears it behoves him to do something!" + +Reuben dashed off along Thames Street westward to do his errand, +and then the Master Builder turned gravely to his friend and said: + +"Harmer, I like not the aspect of things. I fear me that even we +are likely to stand in dire peril ere long. Yet we shall have time +to take steps for our salvation, seeing the wind is our friend so +far, though Heaven alone knows when that may change, and drive the +flames straight down upon us. Yet, methinks, we shall have time for +what must be done. Wilt thou work hand in hand with me for the +salvation of our goods and houses, even though it may mean present +loss?" + +"I will do whatever is right and prudent," answered Harmer, +hurrying hack towards the bridge with his friend and with those who +had followed them, and in a short while they were surrounded by a +number of frightened neighbours, all asking what awful thing was +happening, and what could be done to save themselves. + +The Master Builder was naturally the man looked to, and he gave +answer quietly and firmly. If the fire once leaped Thames Street, +and attacked the south side, nothing short of a miracle could save +the bridge houses, unless some drastic step were taken; and the +only method which he could devise in the emergency, was that some +of the houses at the northern end should be demolished by means of +gunpowder, and the ruins soaked in water, so that the passage of +the flames might be stayed there. + +But at this suggestion the faces of those who lived in these same +houses grew long and grave, as indeed the speaker had anticipated. +The owners were not prepared for so great a sacrifice. They argued +that with the wind where it was, the fire might in all probability +not extend southward at all, in which case their loss would he +useless. They talked and argued the matter out for about twenty +anxious minutes, and in fine flatly refused to have their houses +touched, preferring to take their chance of escaping the fire to +this wholesale demolition. + +This was no more than the Master Builder had foreseen, and without +attempting further argument he turned to his neighbour and said: + +"Then it must be your workshops and storerooms that must go. You +can better spare them than the house itself; and on the opposite +side there is the empty house where poor David Norris lived and +died. There is none living there now to hinder us. We must take the +law into our own hands and make the gap there. If the fire comes +not this way, I will bear the blame with the Mayor, if we be called +to account; but methinks a little promptitude now may save half the +bridge, and perchance all the southern part of London likewise!" + +"Do as you will, good friend, your knowledge is greater than mine," +answered James Harmer with cheerful alacrity; "Heaven forbid that I +should value my goods beyond the life and property and salvation of +the many in this time of threatened peril." + +"We shall save the goods first. It is only the sheds and workshops +that must go," answered the Master Builder cheerily, and forthwith +he and his men, who had come hurrying up, together with all the men +and boys in the double Harmer household, commenced carrying within +shop and houses all the valuables stored in the smaller buildings +hard by. It was a work quickly accomplished, and whilst it was +being carried out, the Master Builder himself was carefully making +preparations for the demolition of the empty house opposite, which +indeed was already in some danger of falling into decay, and was +empty and desolate. + +It had been the abode of the unfortunate man who brought his family +back too soon to the city, and lost them all of the plague within a +short time. He himself had lingered on for some months, and had +then died of a broken heart. But nobody had cared to live in the +house since. It was averred that it was haunted by the restless +spirit of the poor man, and strange noises were said to issue from +it at night. Others declared that the ghost of the wife was seen +flitting past the windows, and that she always carried a sick +moaning child in her arms. So ill a name had the house got by +reason of these many stories that none would take it, and there was +therefore none to interfere when, with a loud report and showers of +dust and sparks, the whole place and the workshop at the side were +blown up at the command of the Master Builder, and reduced to a +pile of ruins. + +In spite of all the excitement and fear caused by the spreading +fire, the neighbours looked upon the Master Builder as an +enthusiast and a madman, and upon James Harmer as a poor dupe, to +allow such destruction of property. No sooner were both sets of +buildings destroyed than men were set to work with buckets and +chains to drench the dusty heaps of the ruins with water, nor would +the Master Builder permit the workers to slacken their efforts +until the whole mass of demolished ruin was reduced to the +condition of a soppy pulp. + +By this time the day had broken; but the sun was partially obscured +by the thick pall of smoke which hung in the air, whilst the +ceaseless roar of the flames was becoming terrible in its monotony. +Backwards and forwards ran excited men and boys, always bringing +fresh reports as to the alarming spread of the fire. Even upon the +bridge the heat could plainly be felt. The workers who were called +within doors to be refreshed by food and drink were almost too +anxious to eat. Never had such a fire been seen before. + +Whilst the Master Builder and his friend were snatching a hasty +meal, Reuben came hurrying back with a smoke-blackened face. He too +showed signs of grave anxiety. + +"Well, lad, hast thou seen the Lord Mayor?" was the eager question. + +"Ay, verily, I have seen him," answered Reuben, with a bent brow, +and a look of severity on his young face, "but I might as well have +spoken to Fido there for all the good I did." + +"Why, how so?" asked his father quickly and sternly; "is the man +lost to all sense of his duties? Where was he? what said he? Come +sit thee down, lad, and eat thy fill, and tell us all the tale." + +Reuben was hungry enough, and his wife hung over him supplying his +needs; but he was thinking more of the perils of his fellow +citizens, and of the supine conduct of the Mayor, than of anything +else. + +"I found the worshipful fellow in bed," he answered. "Other +messengers had arrived with the news, but his servant had not +ventured to disturb him. I, however, would not be denied. I went up +to him in his bed chamber, and I told him what I had seen, and +warned him that there was need for prompt action. But he only +answered with an oath and a ribald jest, which I will not repeat in +the hearing of my wife or mother; and he would have turned again to +his slumbers, had I not well nigh forced him to get up, and had not +some of the aldermen arrived at that minute to speak of the matter, +and inquire into its magnitude. They be all of them disposed to say +that it will burn itself out fast enough like other fires; but I +trow some amongst them are aroused to a fear that it may spread far +in this dry wind, and with the houses so parched and cracked with +heat. Then I came away, having done mine errand, and went back to +the fire. It had spread all too fast even in that short time, and +the worst thing is that no means seem to be taken to stop it. The +people run about like those distraught, crying that a second +judgment has come, that it is God's doing, and that man cannot +fight against it. They are all seeking to convey away their goods +to some safe place; but the fire travels quicker than they, and +they are forced to leave their chattels and flee for their lives. I +trow such a sight has never been seen before." + +"It must be like the burning of Rome in the days of the wicked +emperor Nero," said Gertrude in a low, awed voice. "Pray Heaven +they extinguish the flames soon! It would be fearful indeed were +they to last till nightfall." + +At this moment Rachel Harmer came hurrying into the room with a +pale scared face. + +"The child Dorcas!" she cried. "Why have we not thought of her? Is +she safe? Where has the fire reached to? God forgive me! I must +surely be off my head! Husband, go for the child; she must be +scared to death, even if naught worse has befallen her!" + +"I had not forgot the maid," answered the father; "but it is well +she should be looked to now. The fire has not crossed Thames +Street. Lady Scrope's house is safe yet a while; but unless things +quickly improve, both she and the child should come hither. + +"Make ready the best guest chamber in thy house, Gertrude, and thy +husband and I will go and bring her hither. + +"Come, lad, as thy mother saith, the child may be scared at the +heat and the flames. And my lady has many valuables to be rescued, +too. It would be shame that they should perish in the flames if +these leap the street. We will take the boat and moor it at Cold +Harbour, and slip up by the side street out of the way of the smoke +and the heat. We can thus bring her and her goods with most safety +here. Marry that is well bethought! We will lose not an hour. One +cannot tell at what moment the fire may change its direction." + +Reuben rose at once, and accompanied by two of the steadiest of the +shopmen, they prepared to carry out their plan of seeking to rescue +Lady Scrope and her valuables. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. SCENES OF TERROR. + + +"Father! sweet father! thank Heaven thou art come! Methought we +should be burned alive in this terrible house. Methought perchance +all of you had been burned. O father! tell me, what is befalling? +It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed +with fervent heat!" + +Dorcas, with a white face and panting breath, stood clinging to her +father's arm, as though she would never let it go. He soothed her +tenderly, striving to pacify her terrors, but it was plain that she +had been through some hours of terrible fear. + +"My little bird, didst thou think we should leave thee to perish +here?" asked the father, half playfully, half reproachfully; "and +if so affrighted, why didst thou not fly home to thy nest? That, at +least, would have been easy." + +"Ah, but I could not leave my lady when all besides had fled--even +the two old creatures who were never afraid of remaining when the +distemper was raging all around. She stands at the window watching +the flames devouring all else opposite, and it is hot enough there +well nigh to singe the hair on her head; but she laughs and +chuckles the while, and says the most horrible things. I cannot +bear to go anigh her; and yet I cannot leave her alone. + +"O father, father! come and get her away. She seems like one made +without the power of fear. The more that others are affrighted, the +more she seems to rejoice!" + +Dorcas and her father and brother were in the narrow entry upon +which the back door of the house opened. This alley led right down +to the river, where the boat was moored under the charge of the two +shopmen. It would be easy to carry down any valuables and load it +up, and then transport the intrepid old woman, when she had looked +her fill, and when she saw her own safety threatened. + +For it began to be evident that the flames would quickly overleap +the gap presented by Thames Street. They were gathering so +fearfully in power that great flakes of fire detached themselves +from the burning buildings and leaped upon other places to right +and left, as though endowed with the power of volition. + +The fire was even spreading eastward in spite of the strong east +wind--not, of course, with anything like the rapidity with which it +made its way westward, but in a fashion which plainly showed how +firm a hold it had upon the doomed houses. + +There was no time to lose if Lady Scrope and her valuables were to +be saved. The house seemed full of smoke as they entered it; and +Dorcas led them up the stairs into the parlour, at the window of +which her mistress was standing, leaning upon her stick, and +uttering a succession of short, sharp exclamations, intermingled +with the cackling laugh of old age. + +"Ha! that is a good one! Some roof fell in then! See the sparks +rushing up like waters from a fountain! I would not have missed +that! Pity it is daylight; 'twould have been twice as fine at +night! Good! good! good! yes run, my man, run, or the flames will +catch you. Ha! they gave him a lick, and he has dropped his bundle +and fled for his very life. Ha! ha! ha! it is as good as the best +play I ever saw in my life! Here comes another. Oh, he has so laden +himself that he can scarcely run. There! he is down; he struggles +to rise, but his pack holds him to the ground. O my good fool! you +will find that your goods cost you dear today. You should have read +your Bible to better purpose. Ah! there is some good-natured fool +helping him up and along. It is more than he deserves. I should +have liked to see what he did when the next wave of fire ran up the +street. + +"Dorcas, child, where art thou? Thou art losing the finest sight of +thy life! If thou hast courage to stay with me, why hast thou not +courage to enjoy such a sight as thou wilt not see twice in a +lifetime?" + +"Madam! madam!" cried the girl running forward, "here are my father +and brother, come to help to save your goods and escape by the +back. They have brought the boat to Cold Harbour, where it is +moored; and, if it please you, they will conduct you to it, and +come back and fetch such goods as you would most wish saved." + +But the old woman did not even turn her head. She was eagerly +scanning the street without, along which sheets of flame seemed to +be driven. + +"Great powers, what a noise! Methinks some church tower has +collapsed. St. Lawrence, Poultney, belike. St. Mary's, Bush Lane, +will be the next. Would I were there to see. I will to the roof of +the house to obtain a better view. Zounds, but this is worth a +hundred plagues! I had never thought to live to see London burned +about my ears. What a noise the fire makes! It is like the rushing +of a mighty flood. Oh, a flood of fire is a fine thing!" + +The weird old woman looked like a spirit of the devouring element, +as she stood at her window talking aloud in her strange excitement +and enjoyment of the awful destruction about her. The heat within +the room was becoming intolerable, yet she did not appear to feel +it. The house being well built, with thick walls and well-fitting +windows, resisted the entrance of the great volumes of smoke that +roiled along laden with sparks and burning fragments of wood; but +these fiery heralds were becoming so menacing and continuous, that +the Harmers saw plainly how little time was to be lost if they +would save either the old woman or her valuables. + +"Madam," said James Harmer approaching, and forcing his presence +upon the notice of the mistress of the house, "there is little time +to lose if you would save yourself or your goods. We have come to +give such assistance as lies in our power. Will you give me your +authority to bear away hence all such things as may be most readily +transported and are of most value? When we have saved these, belike +you will have looked your fill on the fire. And, at least, you can +see it as well from any other place in the neighbourhood without +this risk. May we commence our task of rescue?" + +"Oh yes, my good fellow, take what you will. Dorcas will show you +what is of greatest value. Lade yourselves with spoil, and make +yourselves rich for life. I drove forth the hired varlets who would +fain have robbed me ere they left; but take what you will, and my +blessing with it. Your daughter deserves a dowry at my hands. Take +all you can lay hands upon; I shall want it no more. Ha! I must to +the roof! I must to the roof! Why, if it only lasts till nightfall, +what a sight it will be! Right glad am I that I have lived to see +this day." + +Without particularly heeding the words of the strange old woman, +father and son, directed by Dorcas, set about rapidly to collect +and transport to the boat the large quantities of silver plate and +other valuables which, during her long life, Lady Scrope had +collected about her. The rich furniture had, perforce, to be left +behind, save a small piece here and there of exceptional value; but +there were jewels, and golden trinkets, and strangely-carved +ivories set with gems, and all manner of costly trophies from the +distant lands whither vessels now went and returned laden with all +manner of wonders. The Harmers were amazed at the vast amount of +treasure hoarded up in that small house, and wondered that Lady +Scrope had not many times had her life attempted by the servants, +who must have known something of the contents of cabinet and chest. + +But her reputation as a witch had been a great safeguard, and her +own intrepid spirit had done even more to hold robbers at bay. All +who knew her were fully aware that she was quite capable of +shooting down any person found in the act of robbing her, and that +she always kept loaded pistols in her room in readiness. There was +a story whispered about, of her having locked up in one of her +rooms a servant whom she had caught pilfering, and it was said that +she had starved him to death amid the plunder he had gathered, and +had afterwards had his body flung without burial into the river. +Whether there was more than rumour in such a gruesome tale none +could now say, but it had long become an acknowledged axiom that +Lady Scrope's goods had better be let alone. + +Twice had the boat been laden and returned, for all concerned +worked with a will, and now all had been removed from the house +which it was possible to take on such short notice and in such a +fashion. The fire was surging furiously across the road, and in +more than one place it had leaped the street, and the other side, +the south side, was now burning as fiercely as the northern. Dorcas +had been dispatched to call down Lady Scrope, for her father +reckoned that in ten minutes more the house would be actually +engulfed in the oncoming mass of flames. And now the girl hurried +up to them, her face blanched with terror. + +"She will not come, father; she will not come. She laughs to scorn +all that I say. She stands upon the parapet of the roof, tossing +her arms, and crying aloud as she sees building after building +catch fire, and the great billows of flame rolling along. Oh, it is +terrible to see and to hear her! Methinks she has gone distraught. +Prithee, go fetch her down by force, dear father, for I trow that +naught else will suffice." + +Father and son looked at each other in consternation. They had not +seriously contemplated the possibility of finding the old woman +obstinate to the last. But yet, now that Dorcas spoke, it seemed to +them quite in keeping with what they had heard of her, that she +should decline to leave even in the face of dire peril. + +"Run to the boat, child!" cried the father. "Let us know that thou +art safe on board, and leave thy mistress to us. If she come not +peaceably, we must needs carry her down. + +"Come, Reuben, we must not tarry within these walls more than five +minutes longer. The fire is approaching on all sides. I fear me, +both the Allhallowes will be victims next." + +Springing up the staircase, now thick with smoke, father and son +emerged at last upon a little leaden platform, and saw at a short +distance from them the old woman whom they sought, tossing her arms +wildly up and down, and bursting into awful laughter when anything +more terrible than usual made itself apparent. + +They could not get quite up to her without actually crawling along +an unguarded ridge of masonry, as she must have done to attain her +present position; but they approached as near as was possible, and +called to her urgently: + +"Madam, we have saved your goods as far as it was possible; now we +come to save you. Lose not a moment in escaping from the house. In +a few more minutes escape will be impossible." + +She turned and faced them then, dropping her mocking and excited +manner, and speaking quite calmly and quietly. + +"Good fellow, who told you that I should leave my house? I have no +intention whatever of doing any such thing. What should I do in a +strange place with strange surroundings? Here I have lived, and +here I will die. You are an honest man, and you have an honest +wench for your daughter. Keep all you have saved, and give her a +marriage portion when she is fool enough to marry. As for me, I +shall want it no more." + +"But, madam, it is idle speaking thus!" cried Reuben, with the +impetuosity of youth. "You must leave your house on the instant--" + +"So they told me in the time of the plague," returned Lady Scrope, +with a little, disdainful smile; "but I told them I should never +die in my bed." + +"Madam, we cannot leave you here to perish in the flames," cried +the youth, with some heat and excitement of manner. "I would that +you would come quietly with us, but if not I must needs--" and here +he began to suit the action to the words, and to make as though he +would creep along the ledge and gain the old woman's vantage +ground, as, indeed, was his intention. + +But he had hardly commenced this perilous transit before he felt +himself pulled back by his father, who said, in a strange, muffled +voice: + +"It is useless, Reuben; we can do nothing. We must leave her to her +fate. Either she is truly a witch, as men say, or else her brain is +turned by the fearsome sight." + +And Reuben, following his father's glance, saw that the redoubtable +Lady Scrope had drawn forth a pistol from pocket or girdle, and was +pointing it full at him, with a light in her eyes which plainly +betokened her intention of using it if he dared to thwart her +beyond a certain point. + +When she saw the action of James Harmer, she smiled a sardonic +smile. + +"Farewell, gentlemen," she said, with a wave of her hand. "I thank +you for your good offices, and for your kindly thought for me. But +no man has ever yet moved me from my purpose, and no man has laid +hands on me against my will--nor ever shall. Go! farewell! Save +yourselves, and take my blessing and good wishes with you; but I +move not an inch from where I stand. I defy the fire, as I defied +the plague!" + +It was useless to remain. Words were thrown away, and to attempt +force would but bring certain death upon whoever attempted it. The +fire was already almost upon them. Father and son, after one +despairing look at each other, darted down the stairs again, and +had but just time to make their escape ere a great wave of flame +came rolling along overhead, and the house itself was wrapped in +the fiery mantle. + +Dorcas, waiting with the men in the boat, devoured them with her +eyes as they appeared, and uttered a little cry of horror and +amazement when she saw them appear, choked and blackened, but +alone. + +"She would not come! she would not come! Oh, I feared it from the +first; but it seemed so impossible! Oh, how could she stay there +alone in that sea of fire! O my mistress! my mistress! my poor +mistress! She was always kind to me." + +Neither father nor brother spoke as they got into the boat and +pushed off into the glowing river. It was terrible to think of that +intrepid old woman facing her self-chosen and fiery doom alone up +there upon the roof of that blazing house. + +"She must have been mad!" sobbed Dorcas; and her father answered +with grave solemnity: + +"Methinks that self-will, never checked, never guided, breeds in +the mind a sort of madness. Let us not judge her. God is the Judge. +By this time, methinks, she will have passed from time to +eternity." + +Dorcas shuddered and hid her face. She could not grasp the thought +that her redoubtable mistress was no more; but the weird sight of +the fire, as seen from the river, drew her thoughts even from the +contemplation of the tragedy just enacted. The great pall of smoke +seemed extending to a fearful distance, and the girl turned with a +sudden terror to her father. + +"Father, will our house be burned?" + +"I trust not, my child, I trust not. It is of great moment that the +bridge should be saved, not for its own sake only, but to keep the +flames from spreading southward, as they might if they crossed that +frail passage. We have done what we could; and we cannot be +surrounded as are other houses. The fire can advance but by one +road upon us. I trust the action we have taken will suffice to save +us and others. I would fain be at home to see how matters are going +there. I fear me that the pillar of fire over yonder is the blazing +tower of St. Magnus. If so, the fire is fearfully near the head of +the bridge. God help the poor families who would not consent to the +demolition of their houses for the common weal! I fear me now they +are in danger of losing both houses and goods!" + +It was even so, as the Harmers found on reaching their own abode, +which they did by putting across the river to the Southwark side, +to avoid the peril from the burning fragments which were flying all +about the north bank of the river. + +The flames, having once leaped Thames Street, were devouring the +houses on the southern side of the street with an astonishing +rapidity; and the river was crowded with wherries, to which the +affrighted people brought such goods as they could hastily lay +hands upon in the terror and confusion. St. Magnus was now burning +furiously, and great flakes of fire were falling pitilessly upon +the houses at the northern end of the bridge. Even as the Harmers +came hurrying up, a shout of fear told them that one of these had +ignited, and the next minute there was no mistaking it. The houses +on both sides of the northern end of the bridge were in flames; and +the people who had somehow trusted that the bridge would, on +account of its more isolated position, escape, were rushing +terrified out of their doors, or were flinging their goods out of +the windows with a recklessness that caused many of them to be +broken to fragments as they reached the ground, whilst others were +seized and carried off by the thieves and vagabonds who came +swarming out of the dens of the low-lying parts of the city, eager +to turn the public calamity into an occasion of private gain, and +lost no opportunity of appropriating in the general confusion +anything upon which they could lay their hands. + +"Pray Heaven the means we have taken may be blessed to the city!" +cried James Harmer, as he hurried along. + +He found his men hard at work pumping water and drenching the ruins +with it; for, as they said, the great heat dried up the moisture +with inconceivable rapidity, and if once these ruins fired, nothing +short of a miracle could save the remainder of the houses. Other +stout fellows were upon the roofs with their buckets, emptying them +as fast as they were filled upon the roofs and walls, so that when +burning fragments and showers of sparks or even a leaping billow of +flame smote upon them, it hissed like a live thing repulsed, and +died away in smoke and blackness. + +It was the same when the flames reached the gap which had been made +in the buildings by the Master Builder. The angry fire leapt again +and again upon the drenched ruins, but each time fell back hissing +and throwing off clouds of steam. + +For above two long hours that seemed like days the hand-to-hand +fight continued, resolute and determined men casting water +ceaselessly upon the ruins and the roofs and walls of the adjoining +houses, the fire on the other side of the gap blazing furiously, +and seeking to overstep it whenever a puff of wind gave it the +right impetus. Had the wind shifted a point to the south, possibly +nothing could have saved the bridge; but the general direction was +northeast, and it was only an occasional eddy that brought a rush +of flames to the southward. But there was great peril from the +intense heat generated by the huge body of burning buildings close +at hand, and from the flying splinters and clouds of sparks. + +Fearlessly and courageously as the workers toiled on, there were +moments when their hearts almost failed them, when it seemed as +though nothing could stop the oncoming tyrant, which appeared more +like a living monster than a mere inanimate agency. But as the +daylight waned, it began to be evident that victory would be with +the devoted workers. Although the ever-increasing light in the sky +told them that in other directions the fire was spreading with +tireless fury, in the neighbourhood of the bridge and the places +where it had broken out it had almost wreaked its fury. + +It had burned houses, and shops, and churches to the very ground. +The lambent flames still played about the heaps of burning ruins, +but the fury of the conflagration had abated through lack of +material upon which to feed itself. Victory remained finally with +those who had worked so well to keep the foe in check, and keep in +safety the southern portion of the city. The Master Builder's +scheme had been attended with marked success. The demolished +buildings had arrested the progress of the flames, although not +without severe labour on the part of those concerned. + +When the Harmer family met together to eat and drink after the +toils of the day, so wearied out that even the knowledge that the +terrible fire was still devouring all before it in other quarters +could not keep them from their beds that night, the master of the +house said to his friend the Master Builder: + +"Truly, if other means fail, we had better set about blowing up +whole streets of houses in the path of the flames. We will to the +Lord Mayor at daybreak, and tell him how the bridge has been saved. +The people may lament at the destruction of their houses, but sure +that is better than that all the city should be ravaged by fire!" + +Busy indeed were the women of both those abodes upon that memorable +night. From basement to attic their houses were crowded with +neighbours who had been burned out, and who must either pass the +night in the open air or else seek shelter from friends more +fortunate than themselves. + +The men, for the most part, were abroad in the streets, drawn +thither by the excitement of the great fire, and by the hope of +helping to save other persons and goods. But the women and children +crowded together in helpless dismay, watching from the windows the +increasing glow in the sky as the sun sank and night came on, and +mingling tears of terror for others with their own lamentations +over the loss of houses and goods. + +Good Rachel Harmer and her daughters and daughter-in-law moved +amongst the poor creatures like ministering angels. The children +were fed and put to bed by twos and threes together. The mothers +were bidden to table in relays, and everything was done to cheer +and sustain them. Good James Harmer thought not of his own goods +when his neighbours were in dire need, and neither he nor his son +grudged the hospitality which was willingly accorded to all who +asked it, even though the houses would not stretch themselves out +for the accommodation of more than a certain number. + +But as in times of trouble men draw very near together, so the +misfortune of the citizens of London opened the hearts of their +neighbours of Southwark and the surrounding villages, who +themselves were now safe and in no danger from the great fire. +Hospitable countrymen came with wagons and took away homeless +creatures with their few poor goods, to be entertained for a while +by their own wives and daughters. Others who had to encamp in the +open fields were supplied with food by the surrounding inhabitants; +and although there were much sorrow of heart and distress, the +kindness shown to the burned out families did much to assuage their +woes. + +James Harmer, who had done much to see to the safe housing of +multitudes of women and children, came home at last, and gathering +his household about him, gave thanks for their timely preservation +in another great peril; and then he dismissed them to their beds, +bidding them sleep, for that none knew what the morrow might bring +forth. And they went to such couches as they could find for +themselves, ready to do his behest; and though London was in +flames, and the house almost as light as day, there were few that +did not sleep soundly on the night which followed that strange +eventful Sunday. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. WHAT BEFELL DINAH. + + +Dinah Morse and her niece Janet were faring sumptuously in Lord +Desborough's house, hard by St. Paul's Churchyard. His young wife +lay sick of a grievous fever, and he was well nigh distracted by +the fear of losing her. + +Nothing was too good for her, or for the gentle-faced, soft-voiced +nurses who had come to tend her in her hour of need. The best of +everything was at their disposal; and it was no great source of +regret to them that several of the hired servants had fled before +their arrival, a whisper having gone through the house that her +ladyship had taken the plague. + +Dinah and Janet had seen too much of the plague to be deceived by a +few trifling similarities in some of the symptoms. They were able +to assure the distracted husband that it was not the dreaded +distemper, and then they settled to the task of nursing like those +habituated to it; and so different were they in their ways from the +women he had seen before in the office of sick nurse, many of whom +were creatures of no good reputation, and of evil habits and life, +that his mind was almost relieved of its fears and anxiety, and he +began to entertain joyful hopes of the recovery of his spouse. + +Upon the Sunday morning which had passed so strangely and +eventfully for those in the east of the city, there was nothing to +disturb the tranquillity of patient or of nurses. It had been a hot +night, and Janet, when she relieved Dinah towards morning, said she +had seen a red light in the sky towards the east, and feared there +had been a bad fire. But neither of them thought much of this; and +when the bell of St. Paul's rang for morning service, Dinah bade +Janet put on her hood and go, for Lady Desborough was sleeping +quietly, and would only need quiet watching for the next few hours. + +When Janet entered the great building she was aware that a certain +excitement and commotion seemed to prevail in some of the groups +gathered together in Paul's Walk, as the long nave of the old +building was called. Paul's Walk was a place of no very good +repute, and any modest girl was wont to hurry through it with her +hood drawn and her eyes bent upon the ground. Disgraceful as such +desecration must be accounted, there can be no doubt that Paul's +walk was a regular lounge for the dissipated and licentious young +gallants of the day, a place where barter and traffic were +shamelessly carried on, and where all sorts of evil practices +prevailed. + +The sacredness of a building solemnly consecrated to God by their +pious forefathers seemed to mean nothing to the reckless roisterers +of that shameless age. The Puritans during the late civil war had +set the example of desecrating churches, by using them as stables +and hospitals, and for other secular purposes. It was a natural +outcome of such practices that the succeeding generation should go +a step further and do infinitely worse. If God-fearing men did not +scruple to desecrate consecrated churches, was it likely that their +godless successors would have greater misgivings? + +Janet therefore hurried along without seeking to know what men were +talking of, and during the time that the service went on she almost +forgot the impression she had taken in on her first entrance. + +As she came out she joined the old door porter of Lord Desborough's +house, and was glad to walk with him through the crowded nave and +into the bright, sunny air without. + +Although the sun was shining, she was aware of a certain murkiness +in the air, but did not specially heed it until some loudly-spoken +words fell upon her ears. + +"But forty hours, and this whole city shall be consumed by fire!" +shouted a strange-looking man, who, in very scanty attire, was +stationed upon the top of the steps, and was declaiming and +gesticulating as he addressed a rather frightened-looking crowd +beneath him. "Within forty hours there shall not be left standing +one stone upon another in all this mighty edifice. The hand of the +Lord is stretched forth against this evil city, and judgment shall +begin at His sanctuary. Beware, and bewail, and repent in dust and +ashes, for the Lord will do a thing this day which will cause the +ears of every one who hears it to tingle. He is coming! He is +coming! He is coming in clouds and majesty in a flaming fire, even +as He appeared on the mount of Sinai! Be ready to meet Him. He +comes to smite and not to spare! His chariots of fire are over us +already. They travel apace upon the wings of the wind. I see them! +I hear them! They come! they come! they come!" + +The fanatic waved his hands in the air with frantic gestures, and +pointed eastward. Certainly there did appear to be a strange +murkiness and haze in the air; and was there not a smell as of +burning? or was it but the idea suggested by the man's words? Janet +trembled as she slipped her arm within that of the old porter. + +"What does he mean?" she asked nervously. "The people seem very +attentive to hear. They look affrighted, and some of them seem to +tremble. What does it all mean?" + +"I scarce know myself. I heard men speak of a terrible fire right +away in the east that has been burning many hours now. But sure +they cannot fear that it will come nigh to St. Paul's. That were +madness indeed! Why, each dry summer, as it comes, brings us plenty +of bad fires. The fellow is but one of those mad fools who love to +scare honest folks out of their senses. Heed him not, mistress. +Belike he knows no more than thou and I. It is his trade to set men +trembling. Let us go home; there is no danger for us." + +Rather consoled by these words, and certainly without any real +apprehensions for their personal safety, Janet returned to the +house, where she and Dinah passed a quiet day. Neither of them went +out again; and though they spoke sometimes of the fire, and +wondered if it had been extinguished, they did not suffer any real +anxiety of mind. + +"I trust it went not nigh to our homes," said Janet once or twice. +"I would that one of the boys might come and give us news of them. +But if folks are in trouble over yonder, father is certain to have +his hands full. He will never stand by idle whilst other folks are +suffering danger and loss." + +"He is a good man," answered Dinah, and with her these words stood +for much. + +Towards nightfall Lord Desborough came in with rather an anxious +look upon his face. His eyes first sought the face of his wife; but +seeing her lie in the tranquil sleep which was her best medicine, +he was satisfied of her well being, and without putting his usual +string of questions he began abruptly to ask of Dinah: + +"Have you heard news of this terrible fire?" + +Both nurses looked earnestly at him. + +"Is it not yet extinguished, my lord?" + +"Extinguished? no, nor likely to be, if all we hear be true. I have +not seen it with mine own eyes. I was at Whitehall all the day, and +heard no more than that some houses and churches in the east had +been burned. But they say now that the flames are spreading this +way with all the violence of a tempest at sea, and those who have +been to see say that it is like a great sea of fire, rushing over +everything so that nothing can hinder it. The Lord Mayor and his +aldermen have been down since the morning, striving to do what they +can; but, so far as report says, the flames are yet unchecked. It +seems impossible that they should ever reach even to us here; but I +am somewhat full of fear. What would befall my poor young wife if +the fire were to threaten this house?" + +Dinah looked grave and anxious. Lady Desborough's condition was +critical, and she could only be moved at considerable risk. But it +seemed impossible that the fire could travel all this distance. +Only the troubled look on the husband's face would have convinced +her that such a thing could be contemplated for a moment even by +the faintest-hearted. + +"You would not have us move her now, ere the danger approaches?" +asked the husband anxiously. + +"No, my lord. To move her tonight would be, I think, certain +death," answered Dinah gravely. "She has but passed the crisis of a +very serious fever, and is weak as a newborn babe. We will strive +all we can to get up her strength, that she may be able for what +may come. But I trust and hope the fire will be extinguished long +ere it reaches us. Oh, surely never was there fire that burned for +days and destroyed whole streets and parishes!" + +"And oh, my lord, can you tell us if the bridge is safe?" asked +Janet clasping her hands together in an agony of uncertainty and +fear. "Have you heard news of the bridge? Oh, say it is not burned! +They all talk of the east, but what does that mean? Who can tell me +if my father's house has escaped?" + +Lord Desborough was a very kindly man, and the distress of the girl +touched him. + +"I will go forth and ask news of all who have been thither to see," +he answered. "Many have gone both by land and water to see the +great sight. I would go likewise, save that I fear to leave my +wife. But, at least, I will seek all the news I can get, and come +again to you." + +The master of the house went forth, and the two anxious watchers, +after a long look at their patient to satisfy themselves that she +was sleeping peacefully, and not likely to wake suddenly, crept +silently into an adjoining room, where a large window looking +eastward enabled them to see in the sky that strange and terrible +glow, which was so bright and fierce as darkness fell that they +were appalled in beholding it spreading and brightening in the sky. + +"Good lack, what a terrible fire it must be!" cried Janet, wringing +her hands together. "O good aunt, what can resist the oncoming fury +of such a fearful conflagration? Would that I knew my father's +house was safe. But, at least, those within must have had warning, +and they could with ease escape by water if even the streets were +in flames. Alack, this poor city! It does indeed seem as though the +vials of God's wrath were being poured out upon it! Will His hand +be stayed till all is destroyed? Surely the hearts of men must turn +back to Him in these days of dire calamity!" + +Dinah gravely shook her head, her face lighted up by the +ever-increasing light in the eastern sky, which grew brighter and +brighter with the gathering shades of night. + +"Methought in those terrible days of the plague that surely men's +hearts would, for the future, be set upon higher things, seeing how +they had learned by fearful experience that man's life is but a +vapour that the wind carrieth away. But as soon as the pressing +peril abated, they hardened their hearts, and turned hack to their +evil ways. It may be that even this warning will be lost upon them. +God alone knows how many will see His hand in this great judgment, +and will turn to Him in fear if not in love!" + +Before many minutes had passed affrighted servants began peeping +and then crowding into the room, as though they felt more assurance +in presence of Dinah's quiet steadfastness and courage. The faces +of the maids were pale with apprehension. It was difficult to +believe, in the midst of this ruddy glare which actually palpitated +as the lights and shadows danced upon the wall, that the fire was +yet as distant as was reported. All the menservants had run out +into the streets after news of the progress of the fire, and the +women were scared by their absence. Dinah did what she could to +calm them, pointing out that since they could as yet neither hear +nor feel anything of so great a fire, it must still be a great way +off. It was hardly possible to believe that it would be permitted +to sweep onwards much longer unchecked. By this time men's minds +must be fully alive to the great peril in which all London stood, +and she doubted not that some wise measures would soon be taken to +stay the spread of the flames. She advised the maidens to go to bed +and not think any more about it. Let them commend themselves to God +and seek to sleep. She would undertake to watch, and to rouse them +up should there be any need during the night. + +Somewhat appeased and comforted by these words, the maids withdrew +and sought their needed rest. But Janet and Dinah returned to the +sickroom, resolved to keep vigil there, and only to sleep by turns +upon the couch, ready dressed in case of emergency. + +It was nigh upon midnight before Lord Desborough returned, and he +was so blackened and begrimed that they scarcely knew him. + +His wife was still sleeping the sleep of exhausted nature, and, +after one glance at her, the young nobleman turned towards Janet, +who was quivering all over in her anxiety to hear the news. + +"Well, maiden, thy father's house is safe, and half the bridge is +safe; and the thanks of that are due to him and to a worthy +neighbour, who by their wise exertions stayed the fire, which might +else have spread even to the other side of the river." + +Janet and Dinah exchanged looks of unspeakable relief, and Lord +Desborough continued in the same cautious undertone: + +"Once out of doors, the fire fever quickly got its hold on me, even +as it has gotten hold upon almost every person in the city. I had +not meant to go far but I took a wherry, and, the tide serving +well, I was swiftly borne along towards the bridge, and from the +river I saw the raging of such a fire as, methinks, the world has +never seen before. No words of mine can paint the awful grandeur of +the sight I saw. It was as light as day upon the water, and there +were times when the river itself seemed ablaze. For, as the flames +wrought havoc amongst the warehouses and stores along the wharfs, +burning masses of oil and tar would pour out upon the bosom of the +water, blazing terribly, and the boatmen had to keep a sharp watch +sometimes lest they and their craft should be engulfed in the fiery +stream. To the ignorant, who knew not what caused the water to wear +this aspect of burning, it appeared as though even the river had +ignited. This increased their terrors tenfold, and they say that +some poor distraught creatures actually flung themselves into the +fire or the water, convinced that the end of the world had come, +and careless as to whether they perished soon or late." + +"But my father--my father!" cried Janet earnestly. + +"Ah, true, thy father. I heard of him from the watermen in the +wherries, who told me the tale of how he had saved the bridge by +pulling down his workshops and drenching the ruins with water. It +seemeth to me that unless some prompt and resolute course of a +similar kind is taken tomorrow or tonight, infinite loss must +ensue. No ordinary means can now check this great fire. But surely +the Lord Mayor and his advisers will have by now a plan on foot. +Were I not so weary, and anxious about my wife, I would go forth +once more to see what was doing. But I must wait now for the +morrow, and then, pray Heaven all danger may be at an end. Fear +not, good friends, if you hear terrible sounds as of an earthquake +shaking the house this night. Men say that if the city is to be +saved it must be by the blowing up of whole streets of small houses +somewhere in the path of the flames, so that they shall have +nothing whereon to feed. Others say that nothing will stop them, +and that none will be found ready to make sacrifice of their +dwellings for the public good, preferring to risk the chance of the +flames reaching them. I know not the truth of all the rumours +flying about; but the thing might be, and might be wisely done. So +fear not if you should hear some sounds that will make you think of +an earthquake. And call me if aught alarms you, or if my wife +should change either for the better or the worse." + +So saying, Lord Desborough took himself off to his well-earned +repose; and the two nurses passed the night, sometimes waking and +sometimes sleeping, but not disturbed by any strange sounds of +explosion, and hopeful, as the night passed without special event, +that the fire had been extinguished. + +But morning brought appalling accounts of its spread. Nothing had +been done, it seemed, to stay its course. It had reached Cheapside, +and was rushing a headlong course down it, and even the Guildhall, +men said, would not escape. North and west the great, rolling body +of the flames was spreading; churches were going down before it, +one after the other, as helplessly as the timber and plaster +houses, which burned like so much tinder. Hour after hour as that +day passed by fresh and terrible items of news were brought in. +Would anything ever stop the oncoming sea of fire? Surely--surely +something would be done to save St. Paul's. Surely that magnificent +and time-honoured structure would not be permitted to perish +without some attempt to save it! + +Dinah went out at midday for a mouthful of air, leaving Janet in +charge of the sick lady. She turned her steps towards the great +edifice towering up in all its grandeur towards the sunny sky. It +was hard indeed to believe that it could succumb to the devouring +element, so solid and unconsumable it looked. Yet, although all men +were asserting vehemently that "Paul's could never burn," all faces +were looking anxious, and all ears were eagerly attuned to catch +any new item of news which a messenger or passerby might bring. + +The murkiness in the air, faintly discernible even yesterday, had +become very marked by this time. The smell of fire was in the air, +although as yet the terrible roaring of the flames, of which all +men who had been near it were speaking, had not yet become audible +in the Babel of talk going on in the streets and about the great +church. The dean and canons were grouped about the precincts, +looking anxiously into each other's faces, as though to seek to +read encouragement from one another. Nothing was talked of but the +fire, the incapacity shown by the civic authorities in dealing with +it, and lamentations that good Sir John Lawrence, who had coped so +ably with the pestilence last year, should be no longer in office +at this second great crisis. + +Still it was averred on all hands that something was about to be +done; that it was too scandalous to stand by panic stricken whilst +the whole city perished. Every one seemed to have heard talk +respecting the demolition or blowing up of houses in the path of +the flames; but none could say actually that it had been done, or +was about to be done, in any given locality. + +Burned out households were pouring continually along the choked +thoroughfares, striving to find safe places where they might bestow +such goods as they had succeeded in saving. Charitable persons were +occupied in housing and feeding those who had nothing of their own; +whilst others, whose fears were on a larger scale, were fleeing +altogether away from the city to friends in the country beyond, +desiring only to escape the coming judgment, which seemed like that +poured out on Sodom. + +Dinah went back with a very grave face to her charge. The poor lady +had now recovered her senses, and though as weak as a newborn babe, +was able to smile from time to time upon her husband, who sat +beside her holding her hand between his. He was so overjoyed at +this happy change in his wife's condition that he had no thought to +spare at this moment for the peril of the city. He asked for no +news as Dinah appeared; and indeed it was very necessary that the +patient should not be in any wise alarmed or excited. + +Dinah, however, was becoming very uneasy as time went on; and she +was certain that the air grew darker than could be accounted for by +the falling dusk, and upon going to the east window as the twilight +fell, she was appalled by the awful glare in the sky, and was +certain that now, indeed, she did begin to distinguish the roaring +of the flames as the wind drifted them ever onwards and onwards. + +Had it not been for the exceedingly critical state in which the +patient lay, she would have suggested her removal before things +grew worse. As it was, it might be death to move her; and perhaps +the flames would be stayed ere they reached the noble cathedral +pile. Surely every effort would be made for that end. It was +difficult to imagine that the citizens would not combine together +in some great and mighty effort to save their homes and their +sanctuary before it should be too late. + +"What an awful sight!" exclaimed a soft voice behind her. "Heaven +grant the peril be not so nigh as it looks!" + +It was Lord Desborough, who had come in and was looking with +anxious eyes at the flaming sky, over which great clouds of sparks +and flaming splinters could be seen drifting. It might only be +fancy, but the room seemed to be growing hot with the breath of the +fire. The young nobleman's face was very grave and disturbed. + +"What must we do?" he asked of Dinah. "Can she be moved? Ought we +to take her elsewhere?" + +"I would we could," answered Dinah, "but she is so weak that it may +be death to carry her hence, and if we spoke to her of this +terrible thing that is happening, the shock might bring back the +fever, and then, indeed, all would be lost." + +The husband wrung his hands together in the utmost anxiety. Dinah +stood thinking deeply. + +"My lord," she presently said, "it may come to this, that she will +have to be moved, risk or no risk. Should we not think about +whither to take her if it be needful?" + +"Ay, verily; but where may that be? Who can know what place is +safe? And to transport her far would be certain death. She would +die on the road thither." + +"That is very true, my lord," answered Dinah; "but it has come into +my mind that, perchance, my sister's house could receive her--that +house upon the bridge, which is now safe, and which can be in no +danger again, since all the city about it lies in ashes. By boat we +could transport her most gently of all; and tonight, upon the +rising tide, it might well be done, if the need should become more +pressing." + +"A good thought! a happy thought indeed!" cried Lord Desborough. +"But art thou sure that thy good kinsmen will have room within +their walls? They may have befriended so many." + +"That is like enow," answered Dinah; "I have thought of that +myself. My lord, methinks it would be a good plan for you to take +boat now, at once, taking the maid Janet with you as a guide and +spokeswoman. She will take you to her father's house and explain +all; and then her father and brothers will come back with you, if +need presses more sorely, and help us to transport thither the poor +lady. I will sit by her the while, and by plying her with cordials +and such food as she can swallow, strive to feed her feeble +strength; and if the flames seem coming nearer and nearer, I will +make shift to dress her in such warm and easy garments as are best +suited to the journey she may have to take. And I will trust to you +to be back to save us ere the danger be over great." + +"That I will! that I will!" cried the eager husband. "The plan is +an excellent one! I will lose not a moment in acting upon it. I +like not the look of yon sky. I fear me there will be no staying +the raging of the flames. I will lose not a minute. Bid the girl be +ready, and we will forth at once. We will take boat at Baynard's +Castle, and be back again ere two hours have passed!" + +Janet was delighted with the plan. She was restless and nervous +here, and anxiously eager to know what had befallen her own people. +She would gladly have had Dinah to go also, but saw that the sick +lady could not be left, and that it would not be right to move her +save on urgent necessity; but to go and get a band of eager helpers +to come to the rescue if need be satisfied her entirely, and she +said a joyful farewell to her aunt, promising to send help right +speedily. + +Left alone with her patient, Dinah commenced her task of feeding +the lamp of life, and seeking by every means in her power to +prepare the patient for the possible transit. Once she was called +from the room by some commotion without, and found the frightened +servants all huddled together outside the door, uncertain whether +to fly the place altogether or to wait till some one came with +definite news as to the magnitude of the peril. The light in the +sky was terrible. The showers of sparks were falling all round the +houses and the cathedral. The roar of the approaching fire began to +be clearly distinguished above every other sound. + +Dinah, who knew that tumult and affright were the worst things +possible for her patient, counselled the cowering maids to make +good their escape at once, since there was nothing to be done in +the house that night, and they were far too frightened to sleep. +All had friends who would give them shelter. And soon the house was +silent and empty, for the men had gone off either to the fire or +out of sheer fright, and Dinah was left quite alone with her +patient. + +"What is that noise I hear all the time?" asked Lady Desborough +presently, in a feeble voice. "I feel as though there was something +burning in the room. The air seems thick and heavy. Is it my +fantasy, or do I smell burning? Where is my husband? Is there +something the matter going on?" + +"There is a bad fire not very far from here, my lady," answered +Dinah quietly. "My lord has gone to see if it be like to spread, +that he may take such steps as are needful. Be not anxious; we are +safe beneath his care. He will let no hurt come nigh us before he +is back to tell us what we shall do." + +A tranquil smile lighted the lady's face at these words. She was in +that state of weakness when the mind is not easily ruffled, and +Dinah's calm face and steady voice were very tranquillizing. + +"Ah yes, my good lord will not let hurt come nigh us. We will await +his good pleasure. I trust no poor creatures are in peril? There +will be many to help them I trow?" + +"Yes, my lady. I have not heard of lives lost; and many say that it +is good for some of the old houses to burn, that they may build +better ones little by little. Now take this cordial, and sleep once +more. I will awaken you when my lord returns." + +The lady obeyed, and soon slept again, her pulse stronger and +firmer and her mind at rest. + +But Dinah was growing very uneasy. Far though she was above the +street, she heard shouts and cries--muffled and distant truly, but +very apparent to her strained faculties--all indicative of alarm +and the presence of peril. She dared not leave her post at the +bedside, but the air was becoming so thick with smoke that the +patient coughed from time to time, and the nurse was not certain +how much longer it would be possible to breathe in it. She was +certain, too, that the place was becoming hot, increasingly hot, +each minute. + +Oh, where was Lord Desborough? why did he not come? At last she +stole from the room and into the adjoining chamber, and then indeed +an awful sight met her shrinking gaze. + +A pillar of lambent flame, which seemed to her to be close at hand, +was rising up in the air as though it reached the very heavens. It +swayed slowly this way and that, surrounded by clouds of crimson +smoke and a veritable furnace of sparks. Then, as she watched with +awed and fascinated gaze, it suddenly seemed to make a bound +towards the tower of St. Paul's standing up majestic and beautiful +against the fiery sky. It fastened upon it like a living monster +greedy of prey. Tongues of flame seemed to be licking it on all +sides, and a mass of fire encircled it. + +With a gasp of fear and horror Dinah turned away. + +"St. Paul's on fire!" she exclaimed beneath her breath; "God in His +mercy have pity upon us! Can any one save us now?" + + + +CHAPTER XIX. JUST IN TIME. + + +Lady Desborough sat up in bed propped up with pillows, dressed in +such flowing garments as Dinah had been able to array her in, her +eyes shining in anxious expectation, her panting breath showing the +oppression caused by the murkiness of the atmosphere. But in spite +of the peril of the situation, to which she had now awakened with +full comprehension; in spite of the fatigue of being partially +dressed, with a view to sudden flight; in spite of the horror of +knowing herself to be alone with Dinah in this flame-encircled +house, her spirit rose to the occasion, triumphing over the +weakness of the flesh. Dinah had feared that the knowledge of the +peril would extinguish the faint flame of life; but it seemed +rather to cause it to burn more strongly. The fragile creature +looked full of courage, and the fears she experienced at this +moment were less for herself than for others. + +"My dear lord! my dear lord!" she kept repeating. "Dinah, if he +were living nothing would keep him from me. Where is he gone? Dost +thou think he will return in time?" + +"I think so, my dear lady," answered Dinah in her full, quiet +voice; "I pray he may come soon!" + +"Yes, pray for him, pray for him!" cried the lady clasping her +hands, "I have not prayed for him enough. Pray that his precious +life may be preserved!" + +Dinah clasped her hands and bent her head. Her whole faculties +seemed merged in one great stress of urgent prayer. The lady looked +at her and touched her hand gently. + +"You are a good woman, Dinah Morse. I am glad to have you with me; +but if my good lord come not soon, you must save yourself and fly. +I will not have you lose your life for me. You have not strength to +bear me hence, and I cannot walk. You must fly and save yourself. +For me, if my dear lord be dead, life has nothing for me to desire +it." + +"Madam," answered Dinah, in her calm, resolute way, "your good +lord, my master, entrusted you to my care, and that charge I cannot +and will not quit whatever may betide. God is with us in the midst +of the fire as truly as He was in the raging of the plague. He +brought me safe through the one peril, and I can trust Him for this +second one. Our lives we may not recklessly cast away, neither may +we fly from our post of duty lightly, and without due warrant." + +Lady Desborough's thin white fingers closed over Dinah's steady +hand with a grateful pressure. + +"Thou art a good woman, Dinah," she said. "Thy presence beside me +gives me strength and hope. Truly I should dread to be left alone, +and yet I would not have thee stay if the peril becomes great." + +"We will trust that help may reach us shortly," answered Dinah, who +realized the magnitude of the peril far more clearly than did the +sick lady, who had no idea of the awful extent of the fire. + +That it was a bad one she was well aware, and in perilous proximity +to their dwelling; but Dinah had not told her, nor had she for a +moment guessed, that half the city of London was already destroyed. + +"Go and look from the windows," she said a few minutes later, when +the two had sat in silent prayer and meditation for that brief +interval. "Go see what is happening in the street below. I marvel +that I hear so little stir of voices. But the walls are thick, and +we are high up. Go and see what is passing below, and bring me word +again." + +Dinah was not loth to obey this behest, being terribly anxious to +know what was happening around them. Neither by word nor by sign +would she add to the anxieties of Lady Desborough, knowing how much +might depend upon her calmness if the chance of rescue offered +itself; but she herself began to entertain grave fears for the +safety of this house, wedged in, as it appeared to her to be, +between masses of blazing buildings. + +Running up to the top attics of the house, which commanded views +almost every way, the sight which greeted her eyes was indeed +appalling. The whole mass of St. Paul's grand edifice was alight, +and the flames were rushing up the walls like fiery serpents whilst +the dull roar of the conflagration was like the booming of the +breakers on an iron-bound coast. Grand and terrible was the sight +presented by that vast sea of flame, which extended eastward as far +as the eyes could see. It was more brilliantly light now, in the +middle of the night, than in the brightest summer noontide, +although the blood-red glare was terrible in its intensity, and +brought to Dinah's spirit, with a shudder of horror, a vision of +the bottomless pit with its eternal fires. + +But without pausing to linger to watch the awful grandeur of the +burning cathedral, she hastily passed from attic to attic to see +how matters were going in other quarters, and she soon discovered, +to her dismay and anxiety, that the flames had crept around the +little wedge-like block of buildings in which this mansion stood, +and that they were literally ringed round by fire. By some caprice, +or perhaps owing to its solidity of structure, this small +three-cornered block, containing about three good houses, had not +yet ignited; but the hungry flames were creeping on apace, and, as +it seemed to Dinah, from all sides. As she took in this fact, it +seemed to her that help could never reach them now, and that all +they could do was to strive to meet death with as calm and bold a +spirit as they could, commending their souls to God, and trusting +that He would raise up their bodies at the last day, even though +they might be consumed to ashes in the midst of this burning fire. + +What was that noise? Surely a shout from below. Dinah started, and +fled hastily down the staircase. In another moment she heard more +plainly. + +"Sweet heart, sweet heart, where art thou--oh where art thou?" + +It was Lord Desborough's voice; she recognized it with a thrill of +gladness. But there was another voice mingling with it which she +also knew, and she heard her own name called with equal urgency. + +"Dinah! Mistress Dinah! Ah, pray God we have not come too late! +Dinah, we are here to save you both! Show yourself, if you be still +there. Pray Heaven they have not rushed forth in their fears and +perished in the flames!" + +In another instant Dinah had rushed to a window, which seemed to be +on the same side of the house as the voices--namely, at the back; +and, in the narrow court below, she saw Lord Desborough, the Master +Builder, her brother, and Reuben, all clustered together, with +ladders and ropes, and all calling aloud to those within to show +themselves. + +"We are here! we are safe! but the fire is well nigh upon us," +answered Dinah, who had just been convinced by the rolling of the +smoke up the staircase that the lower part of the house was in +flames. + +"Thank God! thank God! they are still there!" cried Lord Desborough +at sight of her; whilst the Master Builder, who was getting a +ladder into position in order to run it up to the window where she +stood, spoke rapidly and commandingly: + +"There is no time to lose. The house is ringed by fire. It will be +all we can do to make good our escape. The front of the place is in +flames already; we cannot approach that way, and the street is full +of waves of fire. Can you make shift to bring out the sick lady to +this window? or--" + +Dinah vanished the moment she understood what was to be done; but +quick as were her movements, Lord Desborough was in the room almost +as soon as she was. He must have darted up the ladder almost ere it +was in position, and the next moment he had his wife in his arms, +straining her passionately to his breast, as she cried in joyful +accents: + +"O my love, my dear, dear love! methought thou hadst perished in +yon fearful fire!" + +"It is more fearful than thou dost know, sweet heart, but with +Heaven's help we will bear thee safe through it. Shut thine eyes, +dear heart, and trust to me. We have won our way thus far in the +teeth of many a peril. Pray Heaven we make good our escape in like +fashion. We have taken every measure of precaution." + +In her great delight at having her husband back safe and sound, and +in her state of exceeding weakness, Lady Desborough understood +little of the terrible nature of what was happening. She felt her +husband's arms round her; she knew he had come to save her from +danger; and her trust was so perfect and implicit that it left no +room in her heart for anxious fears. She closed her eyes like a +tired child, and laid her head upon his shoulder. + +He was a strong man, and she had wasted in the fever to a mere +shadow, and was always small and slight. He carried her as easily +as though she had been an infant; and making straight for the open +window, he climbed out upon the ladder and went slowly and steadily +down it, whilst those below held it for him. + +Dinah watched the descent with eager eyes, unheeding all else. She +never thought to look behind her. She had no idea that a mass of +flames had suddenly come rushing up the stairway behind her. She +was conscious of an overpowering heat and a rush of blinding smoke +that caused her to stagger back gasping for breath; but it was only +as she actually felt the hot breath of the flames upon her cheek, +and saw that the whole house had suddenly become involved in the +universal destruction, that she knew what had befallen her, and +that death was striving hard to clutch her and make her its prey. + +With a short, sharp cry, she staggered towards the open window, but +the heat and the smoke made her dizzy. She fell against the frame, +and uttered a faint cry for help; and then it seemed to her that +the body of flame behind leaped upon her like a live thing. She was +conscious for a moment of making a fierce and desperate struggle, +and then she knew no more, for black darkness swallowed her up, and +her last moment of consciousness was spent in a prayer that the +Lord would be with her in death and receive her spirit into His +hands. + +When next Dinah opened her eyes it was to find a cool wind blowing +on her face, and to feel an unwonted motion of the bed (as she +supposed it for a moment) on which she was lying. Everything was +bright as day about her, but everything seemed to be dyed the hue +of blood. The next moment sense and memory returned. She realized +that she was lying in the bottom of a boat, which men were rowing +with steady strokes. She saw Lord Desborough sitting in the stern, +only a few feet away, still clasping his wife in his arms. She knew +that her head was lying in somebody's lap, and the next moment she +heard a familiar voice saying: + +"Ah! she is better now. She has opened her eyes!" + +"Rachel!" exclaimed Dinah sitting suddenly up, in spite of a +sensation of giddiness which made everything swim before her eyes +for a few moments; and Rachel Harmer looked down into her face and +smiled. + +"Dear Dinah, thank Heaven thou art safe! I hear that thou wert in +fearful peril in this burning city; but our good neighbour brought +thee forth from the blazing house just as the boards on which thou +wert standing gave way beneath thy feet. Oh, how thankful must we +be that our home and our dear ones have all been preserved to us, +when half the city is lying in ruins!" + +Dinah raised herself up still more at these words, and turned her +eyes in the direction of the raging flames on the north side of the +river; and only then was she able to realize something of the +terrible magnitude of that great conflagration. + +The boat was hugging the Southwark shore, for indeed it was scarce +safe to approach the other, save from motives of dire necessity, +and so thickly did sparks and fragments of blazing matter fall +hissing into the river for quite half its width, that boats were +chary of adventuring themselves much beyond the Southwark bank, +save those conveying persons or goods from some of the many wharfs; +and these made straight across with their cargoes as soon as they +could quit the shore. + +"It is terrible! terrible!" gasped Dinah. "It is like the mouth of +a volcano! And to think that but a short hour since I was in the +midst of it. O sister, tell me how thou comest to be here. Tell me +how I was snatched from the flames, for, verily, I thought I was +their prey." + +Rachel put a trembling arm about her sister's shoulders as she made +reply. + +"Truly there were those standing by who thought the same. But for +the brave expedition of our neighbour there, methinks thou wouldst +have perished; but let me tell the tale from the beginning. + +"It was some time after dark--I scarce know how the hours have sped +through these two strange nights and days, when the day seems +almost dimmer than the night. But suddenly there was Janet with +us--Janet and my Lord Desborough, come with news that the fire had +threatened even St. Paul's, and that he desired help to save his +sick wife and thee, Dinah, ere the flames should have reached his +abode. Janet told us much of the poor lady's state, and we made all +fitting preparation to receive her. But none were at home save the +boys, and they had to go forth and find their father and brother, +to return with Lord Desborough to help him in his work of rescue. +He would fain have got others and not have tarried so long. But all +men seem distraught by fear, and would not listen to his promises +of reward, nor face the perils either of the journey by water or of +an approach to the flaming city." + +"Indeed it hath a fearful aspect!" said Dinah thoughtfully, as she +turned her eyes upon the blazing mass that had been teeming with +life but a few short hours ago. "Hast heard, sister, whether many +poor creatures have perished in the flames? Oh, my heart has been +sad for them, thinking of all the homeless and all the dead!" + +"They say that wondrous few have fallen victims to the fire," said +Rachel, "and those that have perished are, for the most part, poor, +distraught creatures, whom terror caused to fling away their lives, +or like my Lady Scrope, who would not leave her home and preferred +to perish with it. It is sad enough to think of the thousands who +have lost home and goods in the fire. But had it come before the +plague had ravaged the city so fearfully, it must have been tenfold +worse. Methinks if the lanes and courts of the city had been +crowded as they were then, the loss of life must needs have been +far greater." + +"But to proceed with thy tale," said Dinah after a pause. "How was +it that thou didst adventure thyself with the rescuing party in the +boat?" + +"Methought that, as there were helpless women to be saved, a woman +might find work to do suited more to her than to the men folks. +Moreover, I may not deny that I felt a great and mighty desire to +see this wonderful fire more nigh. Custom has used us to so much +since it commenced that the terror of it has somewhat faded. They +were saying that St. Paul's was blazing or like to blaze. I desired +to see that awful sight; and see it I did right well, as we pushed +the boat into mid-water after landing Lord Desborough and his +assistants at Baynard's Castle. They were some half hour gone, and +we sat and watched the fire, in some fear truly for them, for the +flames seemed devouring everything, but with confidence that they +would act with all prudence, and in the full belief that the fire +had not yet attacked my lord's house." + +"Ah, but it had!" said Dinah with a little shiver. "I would not +have believed that flames could sweep on at such a fearful pace. +One minute we seemed safe, the next it was seething round us!" + +"That is what they all say of this fire. It travels with such an +awful rapidity, and will suddenly pounce like a live thing upon +some building hitherto unharmed, and in an incredibly short time +will have licked it up, if one may so speak, leaving nothing but a +mass of smouldering ashes behind." + +"I know how it leaps," spoke Dinah, with a little shiver. "I cannot +think even now how I came to be saved." + +"It was our good neighbour, the Master Builder, who saved thee at +risk of his life," answered Rachel with a little sob in her voice. +"It was a terrible thing to see, Reuben tells me. He and his father +were holding the ladder, and Lord Desborough was bringing down his +wife, when all in a moment the house seemed engulfed in one of +those great flame waves of which all men are speaking, and they saw +you totter and fall, as if it had engulfed thee in its deadly +embrace. Lord Desborough was not yet down the ladder, and knew +nothing of thy peril, being engrossed in tender care for his wife. +Nobody could pass him, nor would the ladder bear a greater weight; +but the next moment they saw that our good neighbour had somehow +got another ladder against the wall and was rushing up it at a pace +that seemed impossible. Reuben ran to steady this ladder, for it +was like to fall with the quaking and shaking. And then, just +before they heard the fall of the burning floors, he saw the Master +Builder coming down bearing his burden safely; and once having both +of you safe, there was not a moment to lose in making for the boat. +Already the alley was full of blinding flame and choking smoke, and +it was all the men could do to carry the pair of you safe to +Baynard's Castle, where we took you all on board, but only two +minutes before the fire began to blaze there also. See, by looking +back thou canst see how fiercely it is burning! + +"God alone knows how and where it will be stayed. They say it is +spreading northward as furiously as it flies westward. If the city +walls stay not its course, all London will surely perish." + +Dinah was silent a while, looking seriously before her. Then she +lifted her face nearer to her sister's and said: + +"Prithee, tell me, has our good friend and neighbour suffered hurt +in thus adventuring his life for me?" + +"He has not spoken of it, if so be that he has," was the answer; +"but the haste and peril and confusion were too great for many +words. We shall soon be at home now, and all who need it will +receive tendance. I fear me, dear sister, that thou canst not +altogether have escaped the cruel embrace of the fire. Thy garments +were singed and charred: but this cloak covers thee well and +protects thee from the night air." + +Dinah moved herself, and felt no hurt. She looked anxiously towards +Lord Desborough, as though to ask how it went with his lady. +Fortunately the night was warm and calm, save for the light breeze +that was enough to fan the fierce flames onward and onward. By day +the wind blew hard from the east; but it dropped at night, and this +was no small boon to the many homeless creatures who had no roofs +to shelter their heads. + +Once landed at the Southwark wharf, the party was soon within the +sheltering doors of the twin houses. Gertrude came forth to meet +them, anxious solicitude written on every line of her face. + +The first care was for the poor lady, for whom they had made ready +a pleasant and airy room. She was carried thither, and Dinah +followed to see what was her condition; and although she was +exceedingly weak, she was not unconscious, and so long as she had +her husband beside her holding her hand, she seemed to care nothing +for the strangeness of her surroundings, or for the perils through +which she had passed. + +"Verily, I think she will live," said Dinah, when Janet had fed her +with some of the strong broth which had been made in readiness. +"She looks not greatly worse than when she started up in bed in her +own house with the consciousness that there was fire near. I had +not thought so tender a frame could go through so much of peril and +hardship; but methinks her lord's return was the charm that worked +so marvellously for her; for, truly, she had begun to fear him +dead." + +Satisfied as to her patient, Dinah allowed herself to be taken care +of by Gertrude, who insisted on removing her burned garments, and +assuring herself that no other hurt had been done. It was wonderful +what an escape Dinah's had been, for there was scarcely any mark of +fire upon her, only a little redness here and there, but nothing +approaching to a severe burn. She declared that she could not go to +bed in the midst of so much excitement; and after telling Gertrude +of the wonderful nature of her own escape, she added, with a +slightly heightened colour: + +"I would fain assure myself of the welfare of thy brave father, for +it may be that he may have sustained some hurt; and if that be so, +we must minister to his needs right speedily. Much depends in burns +upon the promptness with which they are dressed." + +Gertrude's filial anxiety was at once aroused, as well as her warm +admiration for her father's courage and devotion. Together they +sought him out and found him in one of the lower rooms, a plate of +food before him, which, however, he had hardly touched. + +The moment he saw his daughter, who entered a little in advance, he +rose hastily and exclaimed: + +"Tell me how she does. Has she received any hurt?" + +"Lady Desborough?" asked Gertrude; "they all say she--" + +"Nay, nay, child, not Lady Desborough! What is Lady Desborough to +me? I mean Dinah, that noble, devoted woman, who would not leave +her mistress even in the face of deadly peril. Tell me of her! Tell +me--" + +And here the Master Builder came to a dead stop, and paused for a +moment in bashful shamefacedness most unwonted with him, for there +was Dinah entering behind his daughter, and surely she must have +heard every word. + +"Dinah is not hurt, father," said Gertrude, covering the awkward +pause with ready tact; "her escape has been truly wonderful. She +wishes to know whether you also have escaped; for she tells me that +you must have faced a sea of flame in order to get to her." + +"Your arm is hurt--is burned!" said Dinah coming forward quickly, +her eye detecting that much in a moment. "Gertrude, bring me the +oil and the linen. I will bind it up before I do aught else. When +the air is kept away the smart is wonderfully allayed." + +The burn was rather a severe one, but the Master Builder seemed to +feel no pain under the dexterous manipulation of Dinah's gentle, +capable hands. When he would have thanked her she gave him a quick +look, and made a low-toned answer. + +"Nay, nay, I can hear no thanks from thee. Do I not owe thee my +life? But for thee I should not be here now. It is I who must thank +thee--only I have no words in which to do it." + +"Then let us do without words between us for the future, Dinah," +said the Master Builder, possessing himself of one of her hands, +which was not withdrawn. "If thou hadst perished in the fire, life +had had nothing left for me. Does not that show that we belong to +each other? I have not much to give, but all I have is thine; and I +think thou mightest go the world over and not find a more loving +heart!" + + + +CHAPTER XX. THE FLAMES STAYED. + + +"Something must be done! The whole city must not perish! It is a +shame that so much destruction has already taken place. What are +the city magnates about that they stand idle, wringing their hands, +whilst all London burns about their ears?" + +Young Lord Desborough was the speaker. He had risen in some +excitement from the table where he had been seated at breakfast, +for James Harmer had just come in with the news that the fire was +still burning with the same fierceness as of old; that it had +spread beyond the city walls, Ludgate and Newgate having both been +reduced to a heap of smoking ruins; that it was spreading northward +and westward as fiercely as ever; whilst even in an easterly +direction it was creeping slowly and insidiously along, so that men +began to whisper that the Tower itself would eventually fall a +prey. + +"Nay, now, but that must not, that shall not be!" cried Lord +Desborough in great excitement. "Shame enough for London that St. +Paul's is gone! Are we to lose every ancient building of historic +fame? What would his Majesty say were that to perish also? Zounds! +methinks my Lord Mayor must surely be sleeping. In good King Henry +the Eighth's reign his head would have been struck off ere now. + +"Thou hast seen him, thou sayest, good Master Harmer. What does he +purpose to do? Surely he cannot desire all the city to perish. Yet, +methinks, that will be what will happen, if indeed it be not +already accomplished." + +"He is like one distraught," answered Harmer. "I went to him +yesterday, and I have been again at break of day this morn. I have +told him how we saved the bridge, and have begged powers of him to +effect great breaches at various points to stay the ravages of the +flames; but he will do naught but say he must consider, he must +consider." + +"And whilst he considers, London burns to ashes!" cried the young +nobleman in impetuous scorn. "A plague upon his consideration and +his reflections! We want a man who can act in times like these. +Beshrew me if I go not to his Majesty myself and tell him the whole +truth. Methinks if he but knew the dire need for bold measures, +London might even now be saved--so much of it as yet remains. If +the Lord Mayor is worse than a child at such a crisis, let us to +his Majesty and see what he will say!" + +"A good thought, in truth," answered Harmer thoughtfully. "But +surely his Majesty knows?" + +"Ay, after a fashion doubtless; but it takes some little time to +rouse the lion spirit in him. He is wont to laugh and jest somewhat +too much, and dally with news, whilst he throws the dice with his +courtiers, or passes a compliment to some fair lady. He takes life +somewhat too lightly does my lord the King, until he be thoroughly +roused. But the blood of kings runs in his veins; and let him but +be awakened to the need for action, then he can act as a sovereign, +indeed." + +"Then, good my lord, in the name of all those poor townsfolk whose +houses are standing yet, let the King be roused to a full sense of +the dire peril!" cried Harmer, in almost passionate tones; "for if +some one come not to their help, I trow there will not be a house +within or without the city that will not be reduced to ashes ere +two more days have passed." + +"It is terrible to think of," said the Master Builder, who was +taking his meal with the young lord, by his special desire, both +having slept late into the morning after the exertions of the +previous night. "If you, my lord, can get speech of the King, and +show him the things you have seen and suffered, methinks that that +should be enough to rouse him. And doubtless you could get speech +of his Majesty without trouble, whereas a humble citizen might sue +for hours in vain." + +"Yes, I trow that I could obtain an audience without much ado," +answered Lord Desborough, though he gave rather a doubtful glance +at his soiled and fire-blackened garments, which were all he had in +the world since the burning of his house. "But I would have you go +with me also, good Masters Harmer and Mason; for it was your prompt +methods that saved the bridge, and perchance all Southwark too. I +would have you with me to add your testimony to mine. + +"Master Harmer, your name was spoken often in the time of the +raging of the plague, as that of a brave and loyal citizen. It is +likely his Majesty may bear it still in mind, and it will give +weight to any testimony you have to offer." + +Harmer and the Master Builder exchanged glances. They had not +thought to appear before royalty, but they were willing to do +anything that might be for the good of the town; and whilst the one +hurried away to procure a wherry to take them as near as might be +to Whitehall, the other supplied, from the stores in the shop, a +new court suit to young Lord Desborough befitting his rank and +station. + +Lady Desborough was going on better than any had dared to hope. Her +husband stole in to look at her before his departure, and was +rewarded by a sweet and tranquil smile. He stole towards the +bedside and kissed her, telling her he was going to see the King; +and she, knowing that his duties called him often to Court, asked +no question, and seemed to remember nothing of the fire, but only +bade him return anon to her when he could. + +Reuben was going also in the boat, and some of the men as rowers. +Gertrude had donned her best cloak and holiday gown, and asked +wistfully of her husband: + +"Prithee take me also; I will not be in your way. But I would fain +see something of this great sight of which all men talk, and they +say it may best be seen from the river." + +"Come then, sweet heart, so as thou dost not ask to run into +peril," said Reuben; and by noon the party were well on their way, +their progress being somewhat slow, as the tide was running out, +and there was a considerable press of craft on the river, which was +the only safe roadway now from one part of the burned city to the +other. + +As boats passed each other, items of news were exchanged between +the occupants, and every tale added some detail of horror to the +last. Bridewell was in flames now, and many said Newgate also. Some +averred that the prisoners had been left locked up in their cells +to perish miserably, others that they had all been released, and +that London would be swarming with felons and criminals, who would +lead the van in the many acts of plunder which were already being +perpetrated. What might be the truth of all these rumours none +could say; but one thing could at least be gathered, which was that +the fire was still raging unchecked, and that nothing had as yet +been done to stay its progress. + +When the boat had reached its destination, Lord Desborough +courteously invited Gertrude and her husband to accompany the +deputation. They had not anticipated any such thing; but curiosity +overcame every other feeling, and before another half hour had +passed they found themselves absolutely within the precincts of +Whitehall, passing along corridors where fine-feathered gallants +and royal lackeys and pages walked hither and thither, and where +their appearance excited some mirthful curiosity, although nobody +spoke openly to them. + +Lord Desborough was challenged on all hands, but gave only brief +replies. He would tell no word of his mission; and presently he led +his companions into a small anteroom, which was quite empty, and +charged the servant, who had accompanied them thus far, not to +permit any one to enter so long as they were there. Then he hurried +away to seek audience of the King, but promised to join his +companions again in as brief a time as possible. + +"Belike it will be long enough ere we see him again," said Harmer, +who almost regretted having come when there might be work to do +elsewhere. "The ear of royalty is often besieged in vain, or at +least it is a case of hours before an audience can be obtained. Yon +pleasure-loving monarch will care but little if all London burn, so +as he has his ladies and his courtiers about him to make merry by +day and by night!" + +By which sentiment it may be gathered that a good deal of the +Puritan sternness of character and distrust of royalty lingered in +the mind of James Harmer, although in this case he was not destined +to be a true prophet. + +Half an hour may have passed, certainly not more, before a sound of +approaching voices from the inner room, to which this one was but +the antechamber, announced the approach of some persons. The +listeners within thought they distinguished the tones of Lord +Desborough's voice; nor were they mistaken, for next moment, when +the doors were flung wide open, and the party instinctively rose to +their feet, it was to see the young noble approaching in earnest +talk with a very dark, sallow man in an immense black periwig, whom +in a moment they knew to be the King himself. He was followed by a +still darker man, less richly dressed than himself, but still very +fine and gay, who was so like the King as to be recognized +instantly for the Duke of York. + +The little group made deep obeisance as the royal party came +forward, and received in return a carelessly gracious nod from the +King, who flung himself into a seat, and looked at Lord Desborough. + +"His Majesty would know from you, good Masters Harmer and Mason, +what you have seen with your own eyes of this fire, and in +particular how the flames were stayed upon the bridge by your +efforts. He has heard so many contradictory stories from those who +are less well informed, that he will have the tale from first to +last by worthy citizens who are to be trusted to speak truth." + +There was no mistaking the ring of truth in the narratives which +were told by the Master Builder and his neighbour. + +The King listened almost in silence, but when he did ask a question +it was shrewd and pertinent in its import. The dark face was +lacking neither in force nor in power; and if the eyes of royalty +did, from time to time, stray towards the fair face of Gertrude, +who followed her father's tale with breathless interest, his talk +was all of the means which must forthwith be taken for the arrest +of the fire, and from the sparkle in his eyes it was plain that he +was aroused at last to some purpose. + +"Good citizens," he said at length, "since our worthy Mayor has +proved himself a fool and a poltroon, I must needs use such tools +as I have under my hand. + +"Bring me pen and paper, knave!" he cried to a servant who was in +attendance; and when the man returned, the King hastily scrawled a +few lines upon the paper, and gave it into the hands of the +citizens. + +"My good fellows," he said, in his easy and familiar way, "take +there your authority under my hand, and go and save the Tower. The +Tower must not and shall not perish. Pull down, blow up, sacrifice +as you will, but save you the Tower. As for me, I will forth +instantly and see what may be done in this quarter. The people +shall not say that their King cared no whit whilst the whole city +was burned to ashes. Would I had known more before, but each +messenger brought news that something was about to be done. + +"About to be done, forsooth! that is ever the way. Zounds! I would +like to pitch yon cowardly Mayor and his whole corporation into the +heart of the flames! And if something be not done to save what +remains of the city, I will make good my word!" + +Then, with a complete change of manner, he rose and came forward to +the corner where Gertrude stood shrinking and quivering, half +frightened by this strange man, yet impressed by some indescribably +kingly quality in him that fascinated her imagination in spite of +all she had heard of him. + +"Fair mistress," he said gallantly, "hast thou nothing to ask? +These good citizens have all had their word to say. Am I not to +hear the music of thy voice also?" + +Gertrude, startled and abashed, dropped her eyes, and knew not what +to say; but something in the King's glance compelled an answer of +some kind, and a sudden inspiration flashed upon her. + +"Sire," she said, in a sweet tremulous voice, her colour coming and +going in her cheek in a most becoming fashion, "may I ask a boon of +your gracious Majesty?" + +"A hundred if thou wilt, fair mistress; there is nothing so sweet +to me as obeying the behests of beauty." + +She shrank a little from his glance, and her grasp tightened upon +her husband's arm; but she took courage, and went on bravely: + +"I have but one boon to crave, gracious Sire. For myself I have all +that heart of woman could crave; but there is still one small +trouble in my life. My dear father, who stands before you now, was +well-nigh ruined a year ago in that fearful visitation of the +plague. By trade he is a builder, and right well does he know his +business. After this terrible fire there must needs be much +building to do ere the city can be dwelt in. May it please your +gracious Majesty to grant to him a portion of the work, that he may +retrieve his lost fortune, and regain the place which he once held +amongst his fellow citizens!" + +"It shall be done, mistress, it shall be done!" answered the King, +with a smile at the girl and a friendly look towards the Master +Builder. "Marry, it is a good thought too; for we shall want honest +and skilful men to rebuild us our city. + +"Thy prayer is heard and granted, fair lady. I will not forget thy +petition. I will see to it myself. Farewell, sweet heart! think +always kindly of your King," and he saluted her upon the cheek, +after the fashion of the day. + +Then turning briskly to the men he said, in a very different tone, +"Now to our respective tasks, good sirs. We have our work cut out +before us this day. Let it not be our fault if, ere the night fall +upon us, the spreading flames, which are devastating this city, are +stopped, and further destruction arrested." + +With a friendly nod, and with a smile to Gertrude, the King went as +suddenly as he came. Lord Desborough lingered only a few moments to +say, in hurried tones: + +"Thank Heaven his Majesty is roused at last! Now, indeed, something +will be accomplished. I must remain with him. I shall have my work, +doubtless, somewhere, as you have yours in the east. Fare you well. +We shall meet again at nightfall; and pray Heaven the fire may by +that time be stayed in its ravages!" + +Need it be told here how that fire was stayed? how the King and the +Duke, his brother, rode in person at the head of a gallant band of +men-at-arms and soldiers, and directed those measures--long urged +upon the Mayor, but never efficiently carried out--of blowing up +and pulling down large blocks of houses in the path of the flames, +so that their ravages were stayed? It was the King himself who +saved Temple Bar and a part of Fleet Street, the fire being checked +close to St. Dunstan's in the west. Lord Desborough superintended +like operations at Pye corner, hard by Smithfield; whilst the good +citizens, Harmer and Mason, took boat to the Tower as fast as +possible, and with the assistance of the governor, and by the +mandate of the King, checked the slowly advancing flames just as +they had reached the very walls of the fortress itself. + +The great and terrible fire was stayed ere nightfall. True, the +flames smouldered and even raged in the burning area for another +day and night, but the spread of them was checked. The citizens, +recovering from their apathetic despair, and encouraged by the +example of their King, no longer stood trembling by, but joined +together to imitate his actions and sacrifice a little property to +save much. + +"Thank God, thank God, the peril is at an end! The very flames have +glutted themselves, and are sinking down into the smouldering heaps +of the ruins they have wrought!" said Reuben, coming back on the +Thursday evening from an expedition of inquiry and discovery. +"Terrible indeed is the sight, but the worst is now known. Four +hundred streets, ninety churches--if what I heard be true--and +thirteen thousand houses--fifteen wards destroyed, and eight more +half burned! Was ever such a fire known before? Yet can we say, +Heaven be praised that it has spread no further. Verily, it seemed +once as though nothing would escape!" + +Gertrude, too, was full of excitement. + +"Father has had a summons from the Lord Mayor. He was urgently sent +for soon after thou hadst gone. O Reuben, dost think the King has +remembered my words to him? dost think he has put in a plea for my +father when the city is rebuilt?" + +"It is like enough," answered Reuben; "they say his Majesty does +not forget when his word is plighted. He will be a rich man if he +be employed by the corporation. And how goes the sick lady?" + +"So well that my lord has taken her away by boat to a villa hard by +Lambeth, where she will be quieter and more at rest than she could +be here. Janet and Dorcas have gone with her as her maids, her own +servants having fled hither and thither. She would fain have had +Dinah, too, but Dinah was not willing." + +Husband and wife smiled a little at each other, and then Reuben +said: + +"Thou, wilt have a stepmother soon, little wife. How wilt thou like +that?" + +"Well enow, so it be Dinah," answered Gertrude, smiling; "but there +is the father coming in. Prithee, let me run to him and hear his +news!" + +Others had seen the approach of the familiar figure, and there was +quite a little group around the door of the two houses to ask news +of the Master Builder as he approached. His face wore a beaming +look, and in reply to the many questions showered upon him he +answered gaily: + +"In truth, good friends, if the plague ruined me, it seems as +though the fire was to set me up again. Here is my Lord Mayor, +prompted thereto by his gracious Majesty the King, giving into my +hands the task of seeing to the rebuilding of Bridge Ward, Within, +Billingsgate Ward, Dowgate Ward, and Candlewick Ward. Four wards to +build! why, my fortune is made!" + +He gave one quick look at Dinah, and then took her hand in his, all +looking smilingly on the while. + +"Thou didst not repulse me when I was but a poor and broken man," +he said; "but, please Heaven, before many months have passed over +my head it will be no mockery to speak of me as Master Builder once +again!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIGN OF THE RED CROSS*** + + +******* This file should be named 13840.txt or 13840.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/8/4/13840 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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