ely able to refrain from laughing. "But I have
something to tell you before I go."

"What is the matter?" demanded Blaize, in alarm. "Where--where are you
going?"

"To fetch the doctor," replied Leonard.

"Is Master Stephen worse?" rejoined the porter.

"On the contrary, I hope he is better," replied Leonard "I shall be back
directly, but as I have to give notice to the Examiner of Health that
the house is infected, I may be detained a few minutes longer than I
anticipate. Keep the street-door locked; I will fasten the yard-gate,
and do not for your life let any one in, except Doctor Hodges, till I
return. Do you hear?--do you understand what I say?"

"Yes, I hear plain enough," growled Blaize. "You say that the house is
infected, and that we shall all be locked up."

"Dolt!" exclaimed the apprentice, "I said no such thing." And he
repeated his injunctions, but Blaize was too much terrified to
comprehend them. At last, losing all patience, Leonard cried in a
menacing tone, "If you do not attend to me, I will cudgel you within an
inch of your life, and you will find the thrashing harder to bear even
than the plague itself. Rouse yourself, fool, and follow me."

Accompanied by the porter, he hurried to the yard-gate, saw it bolted
within-side, and then returned to the shop, where, having found his cap
and cudgel, he directed Blaize to lock the door after him, cautioning
him, for the third time, not to admit any one except the doctor. "If I
find, on my return, that you have neglected my injunctions," he
concluded, "as sure as I now stand before you, I'll break every bone in
your body."

Blaize promised obedience, adding in a supplicating tone, "Leonard, if I
were you, I would not go to the Examiner of Health. Poor Stephen may not
have the plague, after all. It's a dreadful thing to be imprisoned for a
month, for that's the time appointed by the Lord Mayor. Only a week ago
I passed several houses in Holborn, shut up on account of the plague,
with a watchman at the door, and I never shall forget the melancholy
faces I saw at the windows. It was a dreadful spectacle, and has haunted
me ever since."

"It cannot be helped," rejoined Leonard, with a sigh. "If we disobey the
Lord Mayor's orders, and neglect giving information, we shall all be
sent to Newgate, while poor Stephen will be taken to the pest-house.
Besides, the searchers will be here before morning. They are sure to
learn what has happened from Doctor Hodge