ited with
corruption, and streets filled with the dying and the dead--and, above
all, for the ever-haunting expectation that a like fate might be his
own,--he had exchanged green hills, fresh breezes, spreading views, the
song of the lark, and a thousand other delights, and assurances of
health and contentment. Often, as he gazed from the ridge of the downs
into the wide-spread vale beneath, he wondered whether the destroying
angel had smitten any of its peaceful habitations, and breathed a prayer
for their preservation!

But the satisfaction he derived from having quitted the infected city
was trifling compared with that of Blaize, whose sole anxiety was lest
he should be sent back to London. Seldom straying further than the gates
of the mansion, though often invited by John Lutcombe to accompany him
to some of the neighbouring villages; having little to do, and less to
think of, unless to calculate how much he could consume at the next
meal,--for he had banished all idea of the plague,--he conceived himself
at the summit of happiness, and waxed so sleek and round, that his face
shone like a full moon, while his doublet would scarcely meet around his
waist.

One day, about a fortnight after their arrival, and when things were in
this happy state, Amabel, who was seated as usual in the gallery at the
summit of the house, observed a troop of horsemen, very gallantly
equipped, appear at the further end of the northern avenue. An
inexpressible terror seized her, and she would have fled into the house,
but her limbs refused their office.

"Look there!" she cried to Nizza, who, at that moment, presented herself
at the glass door. "Look there!" she said, pointing to the cavalcade;
"what I dreaded has come to pass. The Earl of Rochester has found me
out, and is coming hither to carry me off. But I will die rather than
accompany him."

"You may be mistaken," replied Nizza, expressing a hopefulness, which
her looks belied; "it may be the Earl of Craven."

"You give me new life," rejoined Amabel; "but no--no--my aunt has told
me that the good earl will not quit the city during the continuance of
the plague. And see! some of the horsemen have distinguished us, and are
waving their hats. My heart tells me the Earl of Rochester is amongst
them. Give me your arm, Nizza, and I will try to gain some place of
concealment."

"Ay, let us fly," replied the other, assisting her towards the door; "I
am in equal danger with yourself,