influence appeared to seize upon my vitals, and the work of corrosion
and decomposition to be busily begun.

For a moment, I doubted whether imagination had not some share in
producing my sensation; but I had not been previously panic-struck; and
even now I attended to my own sensations without mental discomposure.
That I had imbibed this disease was not to be questioned. So far the
chances in my favour were annihilated. The lot of sickness was drawn.

Whether my case would be lenient or malignant, whether I should recover
or perish, was to be left to the decision of the future. This incident,
instead of appalling me, tended rather to invigorate my courage. The
danger which I feared had come. I might enter with indifference on this
theatre of pestilence. I might execute, without faltering, the duties
that my circumstances might create. My state was no longer hazardous;
and my destiny would be totally uninfluenced by my future conduct.

The pang with which I was first seized, and the momentary inclination to
vomit, which it produced, presently subsided. My wholesome feelings,
indeed, did not revisit me, but strength to proceed was restored to me.
The effluvia became more sensible as I approached the door of the
chamber. The door was ajar; and the light within was perceived. My
belief that those within were dead was presently confuted by sound,
which I first supposed to be that of steps moving quickly and timorously
across the floor. This ceased, and was succeeded by sounds of different
but inexplicable import.

Having entered the apartment, I saw a candle on the hearth. A table was
covered with vials and other apparatus of a sick-chamber. A bed stood on
one side, the curtain of which was dropped at the foot, so as to conceal