mightn't go and do what I could for these poor creatures. But I don't
know. It is one thing to face a deadly fever like this Plague if it
comes on board your own ship, for there is no getting out of it; and
as you have got to face it, why, says I, do it as a man; but as for
going out of your way to put yourself in the middle of it, that is
going a bit beyond me."

"Well, John, you didn't think it foolish when I went as a Volunteer
to fight the Dutch. It was just the same thing, you know."

"I suppose it was," John said reluctantly, after a pause. "But then,
you see, you were fighting for your country."

"Well, but in the present case I shall be fighting for my countrymen
and countrywomen, John. It is awful to think of the misery that
people are suffering, and it seems to me that, having nothing else to
do here, it is specially my duty to put my hand to the work of
helping as far as I can. The risk may, at present, be greater than it
would be if I stayed at home, but if the Plague spreads--and it looks
as if all the City would presently be affected--all will have to run
the risk of contagion. There are thousands of women now who
voluntarily enter the houses as nurses for a small rate of pay. Even
robbers, they say, will enter and ransack the houses of the dead in
search of plunder. It will be a shame indeed then if one should
shrink from doing so when possibly one might do good."

"I will say nothing more against it, Master Cyril. Still, I do not
see exactly what you are going to do; with one arm you could scarce
hold down a raving man."