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the Thames in a boat. No one at Windsor would afford them shelter; so,
going a little further up, they remained all night in a deserted hut near
Bolter's lock. They pursued their way the following morning, leaving one of
their company behind them, sick of the plague. This circumstance once
spread abroad, none dared approach within half a mile of the infected
neighbourhood, and the deserted wretch was left to fight with disease and
death in solitude, as he best might. I was urged by compassion to hasten to
the hut, for the purpose of ascertaining his situation, and administering
to his wants.
As I advanced I met knots of country-people talking earnestly of this
event: distant as they were from the apprehended contagion, fear was
impressed on every countenance. I passed by a group of these terrorists, in
a lane in the direct road to the hut. One of them stopped me, and,
conjecturing that I was ignorant of the circumstance, told me not to go on,
for that an infected person lay but at a short distance.
"I know it," I replied, "and I am going to see in what condition the poor
fellow is."
A murmur of surprise and horror ran through the assembly. I continued:--
"
This poor wretch is deserted, dying, succourless; in these unhappy times,
God knows how soon any or all of us may be in like want. I am going to do,
as I would be done by."
"But you will never be able to return to the Castle--Lady Idris--his
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