loom. But as they neared the house the boys heard
dismal sounds issuing thence--the groans of sufferers beneath the
hands of the physicians, who were often driven to use what seemed
cruel measures to cause the tumours to break--the only chance of
recovery for the patient--the shriek of some maddened or delirious
patient, or the unintelligible murmur and babble from a multitude
of sick. Moreover, they inhaled the pungent fumes of the burning
drugs and vinegar which alone made it possible to breathe the
atmosphere tainted by so much pestilential sickness. The boys held
their own bottles of vinegar to their noses as they stole towards
the house, feeling a mingling of strong repulsion and strong
curiosity as they approached the dismal stronghold of disease.

Although men were in these days becoming almost reckless, and those
who actually nursed and tended the sick were naturally less
cautious and less particular than others, yet it is probable that
the daring boys might have been turned back had they approached the
house by the ordinary entrance, for they certainly could not
profess to have business there. As it was, however, thanks to
Benjamin's knowledge of the place, not a creature observed their
quiet approach through the orchard and along a tangled garden path.
This path brought them to a door, which stood wide open in this
sultry weather, in order to let a free current of air pass through
the house, and they inhaled more strongly still the aromatic
perfumes, which were not yet strong enough entirely to overcome
that other noisome odour which was one of the most fatal means of
spreading infection from plague-stricken patients.

"We can get into the great kitchen by this door," whispered
Benjamin. "I trow they will use it for the sick; it is the biggest
room in all the house. Yonder is the door. Shall I open it?"

Joseph gave a sign of assent, but bid his brother not speak
needlessly, and keep his handkerchief to his mouth and nose. They
had both steeped their handkerchiefs in vinegar, and could inhale
nothing save that pungent scent.

Burning with curiosity, yet half afraid of their own temerity, the
boys stole through a half-open door into a great room lined with
beds. The sound of moans, groans, shrieks, and prayers drowned all
the noise their own entry might have made, and they stood in the
shadow looking round them, quite unnoticed in the general confusion
of that busy home of death.

There were perhaps a sc