670 THE CATASTROPHE OF TWELVE HOURS. 



and not indeed before she hadexpressed her determination immediately 

 to go herself, he put on his hat, and proceeded on his way to the 

 Town-hall. 



His statement was immediately attended to, and proper officers 

 dispatched for the purpose of carrying the orphans to the hospital as 

 a temporary abode, until it was ascertained whether the disease which 

 had proved fatal to both parents (as he was here told that Robert 

 Jones was dead) might not be lurking in the systems of their 

 offspring. 



In vain he appealed against this order his remonstrances were 

 listened to indeed, but he was coldly ordered away, and he left in a 

 storm of anger and invective, impotently thrown out against those 

 who had probably taken the most wise and humane course. He would 

 have hurried, and removed them to his own house, but the terror of 

 the plague was too potent even for his naturally strong mind to face 

 it, and the limited room, and worse accommodations, would have 

 rendered such a proceeding almost futile. It was hardly an hour 

 since he had unwillingly left his" own home, and to which he was now 

 approaching with his worst fears confirmed, and in a frame of mind 

 little consonant to the scene which was awaiting him. 



The sounds of her husband's footsteps had scarcely ceased to be 

 heard, when Sarah complained that she was ill as yet, however, 

 quite unconscious of the deadly nature of her ailment. She attri- 

 buted it to the grief and fatigue she had undergone, and requested 

 her mother and children to get their evening meal, whilst she lay 

 down on her pallet, hoping that an hour's rest would in some degree 

 recruit and restore her. Sadly, however, was she mistaken, and 

 before long it was too obvious that she had not braved the plague 

 with impunity. The change produced in her countenance during so 

 few hours was very striking : she had left home in the enjoyment of 

 health, and borne every trace of it upon cheek and person she had 

 returned, after a brief absence, pallid, drooping, and despondent, 

 after the burst of excitement produced by seeing the family was past. 

 She became rapidly worse, and fear and sorrow were at the height 

 when Robert returned. He entered hastily, and in a loud and angry 

 tone was proceeding to detail the occurrences of his visit to the Town- 

 hall. The sight that was now before him rendered him instantly 

 silent, and the anxious and terrified glance that met him from every 

 eye, betokened plainly that the plague was amongst them. His wife 

 was stretched on the bed, ghastly pale, and with features strangely 

 sunk and contracted. The noise made by his entry roused her, and 

 she anxiously enquired if he had been successful in his application ? 

 His faltering answer in the affirmative seemed to give her infinite 

 pleasure, as she turned over as if relieved from a great burden, and 

 he forbore to inform her where the children were to be removed, or 

 rather had not the power, so overwhelmed was he at the sight that 

 almost bewildered him. 



