"Get cypress and juniper wood, and burn them in a brazier in this room,
with rosin and myrrh. Keep your brother as warm as possible--do not let
in a breath of air!" And, he added, as I followed him to the door, "on no
account suffer him to sleep for a moment,[4] and let no one come near
him but you and your mother."
[Footnote 4: An approved method of treatment of the plague in those
times.]
When I returned to the bed-side, after obeying these directions, Fritz's
mind was wandering; and although we could understand little that he
said, he was evidently in great distress. He seemed to have comprehended
the physician's words, for he frequently repeated, "The plague! the
plague! I have brought a curse upon my house!" and then he would wander,
strangely calling on Martin Luther and Eva to intercede and obtain
pardon for him, as if he were invoking saints in heaven; and
occasionally he would repeat fragments of Latin hymns.
It was dreadful to have to keep him awake; to have to rouse him,
whenever he showed the least symptom of slumber, to thoughts which so
perplexed and troubled his poor brain. But on the second night the
mother fainted away, and I had to carry her to her room. Her dear thin
frame was no heavy weight to bear. I laid her on the bed in our room,
which was the nearest. Eva appeared at the door as I stood beside our
mother. Her face was as pale as death. Before I could prevent it, she
came up to me, and taking my hands said,--
"Cousin Else, only promise me one thing;--if he is to die, let me see
him once more."
"I dare not promise anything, Eva," I said; "consider the infection!"
"What will the infection matter to me if he dies?" she said; "I am not
afraid to die."
"Think of the father and the children, Eva," I said; "If our mother and
I should be seized next, what would they do?"
"Chriemhild will soon be old enough to take care of them," she said very
calmly; "promise me, promise me, Else, or I will see him at once."
And I promised her, and she threw her arms around me, and kissed me.
Then I went back to Fritz, leaving Eva chafing my mother's hands. It was
of no avail, I thought, to try to keep her from contagion, now that she
had held my hands in hers.
When I came again to Fritz's bed-side he was asleep! Bitterly I
reproached myself; but what could I have done? He was asleep--sleeping
quietly, with soft, even breathing. I had not courage to awake him; but
I knelt down and implored the blessed Virgin and all the saints to have
mercy on me and spare him. And they must have heard me; for, in spite of
my failure in keeping the physician's orders, Fritz began to recover
from that very sleep.
Our grandmother says it was a miracle; "unless," she added, "the doctor
was wrong!"
He awoke from that sleep refreshed and calm, but weak as an infant.
It was delightful to meet his eyes when first he awoke, with the look of
quiet recognition in them, instead of that wild, fixed stare, or that
restless wandering; to look once more into his heart through his eyes.
He looked at me a long time with a quiet content, without speaking, and
then he said, holding out his hand to me,--
"Else, you have been watching long here. You look tired; go and rest."
"It rests me best to look at you," I said, "and see you better."
He seemed too weak to persist, and after taking some food and cooling
drinks, he fell asleep again, and so did I; for the next thing I was
conscious of was our mother gently placing a pillow underneath my head,
which had sunk on the bed where I had been kneeling, watching Fritz. I
was ashamed of being such a bad nurse; but our mother insisted on my
going to our room to seek rest and refreshment. And for the next few
days we took it in turns to sit beside him, until he began to regain
strength. Then we thought he might like to see Eva; but when she came to
the door, he eagerly motioned her away, and said,--
"Do not let her venture near me. Think if I were to bring this judgment
of God on her!"
Eva turned away, and was out of sight in an instant; but the troubled,
perplexed expression came back into my brother's eyes, and the feverish
flush into his face, and it was long before he seemed calm again.