awaiting us, in which were
already the rest of our little company, except Will; and he appearing
before we were well settled in our places, sprang in after us, and said
joyfully, as he took an oar,--

'That coachman had fain learnt from me who it was I had carried down to
the river; but I can be deaf upon occasion;' from which I gathered that
he had been commissioned to restore the coach to its owner.

The sun came up as we began to glide down the stream, and a million
little sparkling waves flashed back his reflection as we rowed on; which
was the only cheerful part of the scene, I thought; for all our company
were grave and silent, and Andrew, though the calmest of us, looked so
like death that I could find no pleasure in his peaceful aspect.

And the river itself, which I had formerly seen so gay with all kinds of
craft, watermen plying up and down constantly, and great sea-going ships
coming and going, and lesser vessels crowding the noble stream, now
seemed as desolate as the town that lay on its banks; only as we went on
we came to many ships lying at anchor, by two and two; sometimes two or
three lines of these ships lay in the breadth of the river, and as we
threaded our way between them, men, women, and children came and looked
over the sides at us.

I was glad to break the silence that had settled on us, and I asked what
was the reason of these long rows of ships being thus moored idly near
the shores? on which the good Mary Giles, who had again the office of
supporting Andrew, speaking softly, told me how they were the refuge of
many hundreds of families, fled out of London, who hoped in this way to
escape the contagion.

'I do not know,' she said however, 'that they do always escape as they
hope. Many a device did I practise myself to keep myself whole and
sound, and some mighty foolish ones; but it pleased the Lord to drive me
from all those refuges of lies, and to show me that He only can kill and
make alive. To my thinking, a fearless, believing heart is the best
charm against the Plague.'

'Ay,' says Harry; 'that is the best charm doubtless. But we shall find
it not amiss to keep our dwellings cleaner and sweeter here in England;
with faith and courage and cleanliness, we might defy the foul fiend
Pestilence. You shall not find that it makes so great ravages, even
among the Dutch.' With that he bit his lip, as though a secret had
escaped him; however no one but myself noted him; and the others now