I saw men drop down in the streets and die of it when I was last in
port there. They send it to us in their merchandise."

"My wife will die of terror if she hears but a whisper of the
distemper being anigh us," remarked the Master Builder, with a sigh
and a look of uneasiness. "But men are always scaring us with tales
of its coming and, after all, there is but a death here and one
there, such as any great city may look to have."

At that moment the door was thrown open, and a pretty young damsel,
wearing a crimson cloak and hood, stepped lightly in.

"O father, mother, do but come and look!" she cried, with the air
of coaxing assurance which bespoke a favoured child. "Such a
strange star in the sky! Men in the streets are all looking and
pointing; and some say that it is no star, but a comet, and that it
predicts some dreadful thing which is coming upon this land. Do
come and look at it! There is a clear sky tonight, and one can see
it well. And I heard that it has been seen by some before this,
when at night the rain clouds have been swept away by the wind. Do
come to the window above the river and look! One can see it fine
from there."

This sudden announcement, falling just upon the talk of pestilence
and peril, caused a certain flutter and sensation through the room.
All the persons there rose to their feet and followed the
rosy-cheeked maiden out upon the staircase, and to a window from
which the great river could be seen flowing beneath. A large
expanse of sky could also be commanded from here, and as the inside
of the house was almost dark, it was easy to obtain an excellent