the darkness. No more newspapers were being
printed, so I had no knowledge of what was taking place outside.

[Illustration: I heard sounds of rioting and of pistol shots 098]

"I heard sounds of rioting and of pistol shots, and from my windows I
could see the glare of the sky of some conflagration in the direction
of Oakland. It was a night of terror. I did not sleep a wink. A man--why
and how I do not know--was killed on the sidewalk in front of the house.
I heard the rapid reports of an automatic pistol, and a few minutes
later the wounded wretch crawled up to my door, moaning and crying out
for help. Arming myself with two automatics, I went to him. By the light
of a match I ascertained that while he was dying of the bullet wounds,
at the same time the plague was on him. I fled indoors, whence I heard
him moan and cry out for half an hour longer.

"In the morning, my brother came to me. I had gathered into a handbag
what things of value I purposed taking, but when I saw his face I knew
that he would never accompany me to the Chemistry Building. The plague
was on him. He intended shaking my hand, but I went back hurriedly
before him.

"'Look at yourself in the mirror,' I commanded.

[Illustration: Look at yourself in the mirror 100]

"He did so, and at sight of his scarlet face, the color deepening as he
looked at it, he sank down nervelessly in a chair.

"'My God!' he said. 'I've got it. Don't come near me. I am a dead man.'

"Then the convulsions seized him. He was two hours in dying, and he
was conscious to the last, complaining about the coldness and loss of
sensation in his feet, his calves, his thighs, until at last it was his
heart and he was dead.

"That was the way the Scarlet Death slew. I caught up my handbag and
fled. The sights in the streets were terrible. One stumbled on bodies
everywhere. Some were not yet dead. And even as you looked, you saw men
sink down with the death fastened upon them. There were numerous fires
burning in Berkeley, while Oakland and San Francisco were apparently
being swept by vast conflagrations. The smoke of the burning filled the
heavens, so that the midday was as a gloomy twilight, and, in the shifts
of wind, sometimes the sun shone through dimly, a dull red orb. Truly,
my grandsons, it was like the last days of the end of the world.

"There were numerous stalled motor cars, showing that the gasoline and
the engine supplies of the garages had given out. I remember