'He died this morning and has just been cast into the sea. Before he
died he spoke of you, and prayed me to help you if I could. But his
words were wild and I thought that he might be distraught. And indeed
how can I help you?'
'Perhaps you can find me food and drink,' I answered 'and for our
friend, God rest his soul. What of the Captain Sarceda? Is he also
dead?'
'No, senor, he alone is recovering of all whom the scourge has smitten.
And now I must go to my brother, but first I will seek food for you.'
She went and presently returned with meat and a flask of wine which she
had hidden beneath her dress, and I ate and blessed her.
For two days she fed me thus, bringing me food at night. On the second
night she told me that her brother was dead and of all the crew only
fifteen men and one officer remained untouched by the sickness, and that
she herself grew ill. Also she said that the water was almost finished,
and there was little food left for the slaves. After this she came no
more, and I suppose that she died also.
It was within twenty hours of her last visit that I left this accursed
ship. For a day none had come to feed or tend the slaves, and indeed
many needed no tending, for they were dead. Some still lived however,
though so far as I could see the most of them were smitten with the
plague. I myself had escaped the sickness, perhaps because of the
strength and natural healthiness of my body, which has always saved me
from fevers and diseases, fortified as it was by the good food that I
had obtained.
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