So I knocked at the door of a house where
there was a dim light behind the drawn shade in one of the windows.
After a while the door was opened by a woman who held the end of
her shawl across her mouth. All that I could see was the black
sorrow of her eyes.
"Go away," she said slowly; "the plague is here. My children are
dying of it. You must not come in! Go away."
So we hurried on through that plague-smitten street, burdened
with a new fear. Soon we saw a house on the riverside which looked
absolutely empty. The shades were up, the windows open, the door
stood ajar. I hesitated; plucked up courage; resolved that we
must get to the waterside in some way in order to escape from the
net of death which encircled us.
"Come," I said, "let us try to go down through this house. But
cover your mouths."
We groped through the empty passageway, and down the basement-stair.
The thick cobwebs swept my face. I noted them with joy, for I thought
they proved that the house had been deserted for some time, and so
perhaps it might not be infected.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25