THE CATASTROPHE OF TWELVE HOURS. 



CHAPTER VI. 



No dawn of hope broke through their dismal night, 

 No thought of help." HEECH'S Lucretius. 



There are, perhaps, no periods in the course of human life in 

 which so many harrowing and exquisitely painful feelings are 

 crowded into the same short space of time, as when, unexpectedly 

 and unwarned, we find ourselves on the brink of losing one who has 

 been long dear to us. Vivid impressions of happiness long enjoyed, 

 desolate anticipations of the future, are wildly mingled with the 

 more immediate sorrow, and an unendurable weight of terrible agony 

 is felt, far too deep .for the source of tears. 



The group now bending over her who, as a daughter, wife, and 

 mother, was so beloved, presented a striking picture of the utter 

 abandonment of sorrow. The Grecian painter might have shewn his 

 sensibility by hiding the faces of'allfor painting or language would 

 alike vainly strive to portray their expression. The unusual sound 

 of lamentation so extreme, quickly brought in several of the neigh- 

 bours ; but, no sooner were they aware of the nature of the disease, 

 than they immediately retired, and " the plague ! the plague !" was 

 hastily shouted through the court. The approach of no mortal enemy 

 could have so quickly emptied the houses of their inmates, in haste 

 and terror the place was abandoned, and the miserable family left 

 to their own resources. 



Meanwhile the "plague" was making rapid progress on poor 

 Sarah totally unchecked by the feeble means within the reach of her 

 humble home. These were, however, diligently and earnestly em- 

 ployed friction with hot flannel, mint-tea, and bags of hot sand 

 were incessantly applied for her relief. The fatal prejudice existing 

 in their minds prevented all recourse to means which might possibly 

 have been more available. Hitherto her sufferings did not appear to 

 have been of a very painful character, and her mental faculties had 

 remained uninjured. Maternal feelings, gratified by having succeeded 

 in snatching the poor orphans from a state of such utter misery, were 

 mingled with bitter remorse for the lamentable consequences to her- 

 self. The evils of her removal were stretched wide before her, and 

 as she turned from side to side, gazing wistfully at those around her, 

 heavy sobs told how deep a regret and sorrow were preying upon her 

 heart, not for her own sake indeed, but for the sake of those whose 

 unwearied efforts to assist her, she felt to be quite hopeless. 



The " plague " was rapidly mastering its victim, though a vitality 

 which had withstood so many rude shocks of fortune, clung tena- 

 ciously to its possessor. Violent spasms, accompanied by throes of 

 agony, came on, and the leaden hue and deathlike coldness of 

 her extremities defied all the means used to restore their proper 

 warmth. In a voice strangely thin and wiry, she earnestly begged 

 her husband to cherish her mother and children no word of re- 

 proach had she ever uttered of her " young hopes blighted," to him 

 even in his worst and most unkind moments and now, as he bent 



