amongst the sick, and he
tells me that there be poor stricken wretches from whom all the
world flee in terror the moment it appears they have the distemper
upon them. Many have died already untended and uncared for, whilst
others have in the madness of the fever and pain burst out of the
rooms in which they have been shut up, and have run up and down the
streets, spreading terror in their path, till they have dropped
down dead or dying, to be carried to graveyard or pest house as the
case may be. But who can tell how many other victims such a
miserable creature may not have infected first?"

"Ay, that is the terror of it," said Harmer. "All are saying that
nurses must be found to care for the sick, and many are very
resolved that the houses where the distemper is found should be
straitly shut up and guarded by watchmen, that none go forth. It is
a hard thing for the whole to be thus shut in with the infected;
but as men truly say, how shall the whole city escape if something
be not done to restrain the people from passing to and fro, and
spreading the distemper everywhere?"

"I have thought," said Dinah, very quietly, "that it may be given
to me to offer myself as a nurse for these poor persons. I have
passed unscathed through many perils before now. Once I verily
believe I was with one who died even of this distemper, albeit the
physician called it the spotted fever, which frights men less than
the name of plague. There be many herbs and simples and decoctions
which men say are of great value in keeping the infection at bay.
And even were it not so, we must not be thinking only at such times
of saving our own lives. There be some that must be ready to risk
even life, if they may serve their brethren. The good physicians
are prepared to do this, to say nothing of the Magistrates and
those who have the management of this great city at such a time.
And it seems to me that women must always be ready to tend the sick
even in times of peril. I seem to hear a call that bids me offer
myself for this work; but none else shall suffer through me. If I
go, I return hither no more. I shall live amongst the sick until
this judgment be overpast, or until I myself be called hence, as
may well be."

All faces were grave and full of awe. Yet perhaps none who knew
Dinah were overmuch surprised at her words. Her life had been lived
amongst the sick for many years. She had never shrunk from danger,
or had spared herself when the need