and those who were not so
heavily afflicted by the infection moved about weakly and stupefied
with fever rendering only the most necessary assistance. They brought
the bread which had been deposited at a certain place outside the
boundary line, into the village, milked the cows, kept up the fires,
and buried the dead when capable of doing so.

"Where is the Mayor?" asked Erastus.

"Dead," answered a miserable looking knot of women, around whose necks
hung some wretched infants.

"The clergyman?"

"His wife fell ill, he therefore hurried away with his family."

"The schoolmaster?"

"He went off with the clergyman."

"Who looks after you then?"

"No one."

Under these circumstances it was arranged that the physicians and
workmen should remain there for a time, dig a grave for the dead,
disinfect the houses, and give out medicines and clothes. Erastus
however and others would go on to Schoenau to see what might be done
there. A solitary path in the woods led over the brow of the hill to
the village. The farms lying high above on the slopes of the wood had
mostly escaped the infection, they were however strictly barricaded,
and the inhabitants repelled with hard words any attempt at approach.
The first houses in the village they came to, were tightly fastened up,
though traces of violence were however not to be perceived. Then they
entered the little town, which in course of time had been built around
the old abbey. Everything was quiet, but a better order seemed to
prevail. Windows were open to admit the fresh air, the sick lay in
clean beds, and near them stood a pitcher of water. The rooms were
tidy. Pale children went to and fro to help the sufferers. Erastus
entered one of the houses, to make some inquiries of a woman who seemed
to be on the way towards recovery. He praised the means taken and asked
if they were satisfied with their physician.

"We have no physician, none will come to us."

"Who taught you then to air the houses, and apply wet cloths to the
head?"

"The clergyman from Heidelberg."

"Who is he?"

The woman shrugged her shoulders and turned her face to the wall. He
saw that she did not wish to be disturbed. Outside he met some young
men filling buckets with water.

"For whom is the water?" asked Erastus.

"For the sick in the Church."

"Have you turned the Church into an hospital?"

"Yes."

"Who ordered it?"

"The Heidelberg clergyman."

"Where is the Mayor?"

"Gone."