m the town, where he said some of his men were dying. One in
particular, his head muleteer, a very valuable servant, he was most
selfishly anxious for, and, on the way thither, promised me a large
remuneration if I should succeed in saving him. Our journey was not a
long one, but it rained hard, and the fields were flooded, so that it
took us some time to reach the long, low hut which he called his home.
I would rather not see such another scene as the interior of that hut
presented. Its roof scarcely sheltered its wretched inmates from the
searching rain; its floor was the damp, rank turf, trodden by the
mules' hoofs and the muleteers' feet into thick mud. Around, in dirty
hammocks, and on the damp floor, were the inmates of this wretched
place, male and female, the strong and the sick together, breathing
air that nearly choked me, accustomed as I had grown to live in impure
atmosphere; for beneath the same roof the mules, more valuable to
their master than his human servants, were stabled, their fore-feet
locked, and beside them were heaps of saddles, packs, and harness. The
groans of the sufferers and the anxiety and fear of their comrades
were so painful to hear and witness, that for a few minutes I felt an
almost uncontrollable impulse to run out into the stormy night, and
flee from this plague-spot. But the weak feeling vanished, and I set
about my duty. The mule-owner was so frightened that he did not
hesitate to obey orders, and, by my directions, doors and shutters
were thrown open, fires were lighted, and every effort made to
ventilate the place; and then, with the aid of the frightened women, I
applied myself to my poor patients. Two were beyond my skill. Death
alone could give them relief. The others I could help. But no words of
mine could induce them to bear their terrible sufferings like men.
They screamed and groaned, not like women, for few would have been so
craven-hearted, but like children; calling, in the intervals of
violent pain, upon Jesu, the Madonna, and all the saints of heaven
whom their lives had scandalised. I stayed with them until midnight,
and then got away for a little time. But I had not long been quiet,
before the mule-master was after me again. The men were worse; would I
return with him. The rain was drifting heavily on the thatched roof,
as it only does in tropical climates, and I was tired to death; but I
could not resist his appeal. He had brought with him a pair of tall,
thick bo