“I thought you were at the pest-house in Finsbury
Fields,” said Leonard.
“I was taken there,” replied Blaize; “but
the place was full, and they would not admit me, so
I was sent to Saint Paul’s, where there was
plenty of room. Yesterday I did pretty well, for
I was in the great ward above, and one of the attendants
obeyed my directions implicitly, and I am certain
if they had been fully carried out, I should have got
well. I will tell you what I did. As soon
as I was placed on a pallet, and covered with blankets,
I ordered a drink to be prepared of the inner bark
of an ash-tree, green walnuts, scabious vervain, and
saffron, boiled in two quarts of the strongest vinegar.
Of this mixture I drank plentifully, and it soon produced
a plentiful perspiration. I next had a hen—a
live one, of course—stripped of the feathers,
and brought to me. Its bill was held to the large
blotch under my arm, and kept there till the fowl
died from the noxious matter it drew forth. I
next repeated the experiment with a pigeon, and derived
the greatest benefit from it. The tumour had
nearly subsided, and if I had been properly treated
afterwards, I should now be in a fair way of recovery.
But instead of nice strengthening chicken-broth, flavoured
with succory and marigolds; or water-gruel, mixed
with rosemary and winter-savory; or a panado, seasoned
with verjuice or wood-sorrel; instead of swallowing
large draughts of warm beer; or water boiled with
carduus seeds; or a posset drink, made with sorrel,
bugloss, and borage;—instead of these remedies,
or any other, I was carried to this horrible place
when I was asleep, and strapped to my pallet, as you
perceive. Unloose me, if you can do nothing else.”
“That I will readily do,” replied Leonard;
“but I must first procure a light.”
With this, he groped his way among the close ranks
of ponderous pillars, but though he proceeded with
the utmost caution, he could not avoid coming in contact
with the beds of some of the other patients, and disturbing
them. At length he descried a glimmer of light
issuing from a door which he knew to be that of the
vestry, and which was standing slightly ajar.
Opening it, he perceived a lamp burning on the table,
and without stopping to look around him, seized it,
and hurried back to the porter. Poor Blaize presented
a lamentable, and yet grotesque appearance. His
plump person was greatly reduced in bulk, and his round
cheeks had become hollow and cadaverous. He was
strapped, as he had stated, to the pallet, which in
its turn was fastened to the adjoining pillar.
A blanket was tightly swathed around him, and a large
cloth was bound round his head in lieu of a nightcap.
Leonard instantly set about releasing him, and had
just unfastened the straps when he heard footsteps
approaching, and looking up, perceived the stranger
and Judith Malmayns advancing towards him.
II.
THE SECOND PLAGUE-PIT.
Copyrights
Old Saint Paul's from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
