is chase or
war opened their skins to generous transpiration--more vulgarly, sweated
'em handsomely; and this further drew off their black bile--the mother
of sickness. Thirdly, when we came to burn the bodies of the rats,
I sprinkled sulphur on the faggots, whereby the onlookers were as
handsomely suffumigated. This I could not have compassed if I had made
it a mere physician's business; they'd have thought it some conjuration.
Yet more, we cleansed, limed, and burned out a hundred foul poke-holes,
sinks, slews, and corners of unvisited filth in and about the houses in
the village, and by good fortune (mark here that Mars was in opposition
to Venus) burned the corn-handler's shop to the ground. Mars loves not
Venus. Will Noakes the saddler dropped his lantern on a truss of straw
while he was rat-hunting there.'

'Had ye given Will any of that gentle cordial of yours, Nick, by any
chance?' said Puck.

'A glass--or two glasses--not more. But as I would say, in fine, when we
had killed the rats, I took ash, slag, and charcoal from the smithy,
and burnt earth from the brickyard (I reason that a brickyard belongs
to Mars), and rammed it with iron crowbars into the rat-runs and buries,
and beneath all the house floors. The Creatures of the Moon hate all
that Mars hath used for his own clean ends. For example--rats bite not
iron.'

'And how did poor stuttering Jack endure it?' said Puck.

'He sweated out his melancholy through his skin, and catched a
loose cough, which I cured with electuaries, according to art. It is
noteworthy, were I speaking among my equals, that the venom of the
plague translated, or turned itself into, and evaporated, or went away
as, a very heavy hoarseness and thickness of the head, throat, and
chest. (Observe from my books which planets govern these portions of
man's body, and your darkness, good people, shall be illuminated--ahem!)
None the less, the plague, qua plague, ceased and took off (for we only
lost three more, and two of 'em had it already on 'em) from the
morning of the day that Mars enlightened me by the Lower Mill.' He
coughed--almost trumpeted--triumphantly.

'It is proved,' he jerked out. 'I say I have proved my contention, which
is, that by Divine Astrology and humble search into the veritable causes
of things--at the proper time--the sons of wisdom may combat even the
plague.'

H'm!' Puck replied. 'For my own part I hold that a simple soul--'

'Mine? Simple, forsooth?' said