For a fortnight the old pilot nursed and fed the two midshipmen. He had
already provided them with native clothes, so that if by chance any
villagers should catch sight of them they would not recognize them as
the escaped white men.
At the end of that time both the lads had almost recovered from the
effects of their sufferings. Jack, indeed, had picked up from the
first, but Percy for some days continued so weak and ill that Jack had
feared that he was going to have an attack of fever of some kind.
His companion's cheery and hopeful chat did as much good for Percy as
the nourishing food with which their friend supplied them; and at the
end of the fortnight he declared that he felt sufficiently strong to
attempt to make his way down to the coast.
The pilot acted as their guide. When they inquired about his wife, he
told them carelessly that she would remain with her kinsfolk, and would
travel on to Canton and join him there when she found an opportunity.
The journey was accomplished at night, by very short stages at first,
but by increasing distances as Percy gained strength.
During the daytime the lads lay hid in woods or jungles, while their
companion went into a village and purchased food, they struck the river
many miles above Canton, and the pilot, going down first to a village on
its banks, bargained for a boat to take him and two women down to the
city.
The lads went on board at night and took their places in the little
cabin, formed of bamboos and covered with mats, in the stern of the
boat, and remained thus sheltered not only from the view of people in
boats passing up or down the stream, but from the eyes of their own
boatmen.
After two days' journey down the river without incident, they arrived
off Canton, where the British fleet was still lying while negotiations
for peace were being carried on with the authorities at Pekin. Peeping
out between the mats, the lads caught sight of the English warships,
and, knowing that there was now no danger, they dashed out of the cabin,
to the surprise of the native boatmen, and shouted and waved their arms
to the distant ships.
In ten minutes they were alongside the _Perseus_, when they were hailed
as if restored from the dead.
The pilot was very handsomely rewarded by the English authorities for
his kindness to the prisoners, and was highly satisfied with the result
of his proceedings, which more than doubled the little capital with
which he had retired from business. Jack Fothergill and Percy Adcock
declare that they have never since eaten chicken without thinking of
their Christmas fare on the morning of their escape from the hands of
the Chinese pirates.
*THE BLACK DEATH.*
*FROM "ST. GEORGE FOR ENGLAND."*
[Sir Walter Somers, a young knight who had distinguished himself under
the Black Prince at Crecy and Poitiers, married Edith Vernon; and,
during a lull in the fighting with France, settled down in his castle at
Westerham. He had a deadly enemy in a knight who was a relation of his
wife's, and whom he had thwarted in an attempt made on her in order to
inherit the property.
The terrible plague known in history as the Black Death (1348-49), which
carried off two-thirds of the population of England, breaks out. When
the plague reaches the village, Sir Walter goes down with his faithful
retainer Ralph to comfort the frightened people.]
They found the village in a state of panic. Women were sitting crying
despairingly at their doors. Some were engaged in packing their
belongings in carts ready for flight. Some wandered aimlessly about,
wringing their hands, while others went to the church, whose bells were
mournfully tolling the knell of the departed.
Walter's presence soon restored something like order and confidence; his
resolute tone cheered the timid and gave hope to the despairing.
Sternly he rebuked those preparing to fly, and ordered them instantly to
replace their goods in their houses. Then he went to the priest and
implored him to cause the tolling of the bell to cease.
"There is enough," he said, "in the real danger present to appal even
the bravest, and we need no bell to tell us that death is among us. The
dismal tolling is enough to unnerve the stoutest heart, and if we ring
for all who die, its sounds will never cease while the plague is among
us; therefore, father, I implore you to discontinue it.
"Let there be services held daily in the church, but I beseech you
strive to cheer the people rather than to depress them, and to dwell
more upon the joys that await those who die as Christian men and women
than upon the sorrows of those who remain behind. My wife and mother
will soon be down in the village and will strive to cheer and comfort
the people, and I look to you for aid in this matter."
The priest, who was naturally a timid man, nevertheless nerved himself
to carry out Walter's suggestions, and soon the dismal tones of the bell
ceased to be heard in the village.
Walter despatched messengers to all the outlying farms, desiring his
tenants to meet him that afternoon at the castle, in order that steps
might be taken for common aid. An hour later Dame Vernon and Edith came
down and visited all the houses where the plague had made its
appearance, distributing their soups, and by cheering and comforting
words raising the spirits of the relatives of the sufferers.
The names of all the women ready to aid in the work of nursing were
taken down, and in the afternoon at the meeting at the castle the full
arrangements were completed. Work was to be carried on as usual in order
to occupy men's minds, and prevent them from brooding over the awful
effects of the plague.
Information of any case that occurred was to be sent to the castle,
where soups and medicines were to be obtained. Whenever more assistance
was required than could be furnished by the inmates of a house, another
woman was to be sent to aid. Boys were told off as messengers to fetch
food and other things as required from the castle.
So, bravely and firmly, they prepared to meet the pestilence; it spread
with terrible severity. There was scarcely a house which did not lose
some of its inmates, while in others whole families were swept away.
All day Walter and his wife and Dame Vernon went from house to house.
Although they could do nothing to stay the progress of the pestilence,
their presence and example supported the survivors, and prevented the
occurrence of any of the panic and disorder which in most places
accompanied it.