ben desired.

"It was Dorcas he was pursuing," she cried, recoiling and putting
up her hands to her face; "I know it! I know it! O wretched boy!
why does he cover us with shame like this? I marvel that thou canst
look kindly upon me, Reuben. Am I not his most unhappy sister?"

"Thou art the sweetest, purest maiden my eyes ever beheld,"
answered Reuben, his words seeming to leap from his lips against
his own will. Then commanding himself, he added more quietly, "But
he is like to be punished for his sins, and it may be the lesson
learned will be of use to him all his life. It will be a marvel if
he escapes the distemper, having been so exposed, and that whilst
inflamed by drink, which, so far as I may judge, enfeebles the
tissues, and causes a man to fall a victim far quicker than if he
had been sober, and a temperate liver."

"My poor brother!" cried Gertrude, beneath her breath. "Oh, what
has my father done with him? What will become of him?"

"Your father brought him hither at once--not within the house, but
into one of his old offices where in past times his goods were wont
to be stored. He has now gone to consult with your mother whether
or not the poor lad should be admitted within the house or not. If
your mother will not have him here, he will remain for a while
where he is; and if he falls sick, he will be removed to the pest
house."

"Oh no! no! no!" cried Gertrude vehemently, "not whilst he has a
sister to nurse him--a roof, however humble, to shelter him. Let
him not die amongst strangers! I fear not the infection. I will go
to him this minute. Already I have thought it were better to die of
the plague, doing one's duty towards the sick and suffering, than
to keep shut up away from all. They shall not take him away to die
amidst those scenes of horror of which one has heard. Even my
mother will be brave, methinks, for Frederick's sake. I trow she
will open her doors to him."

"That is what your father thinks. It may be that even now he is
bringing him within. But, sweet mistress, if Frederick comes here,
it may well be that in another week this house will be straitly
shut up, with the red cross upon the door, and the watchman before
the portal day and night. That is why I have come hither at once,
to open the little door between our houses; for I cannot bear the
thought of knowing naught that befalls you for a whole long month.
And since, though my work takes me daily into what men call the
peril of