History of the Plague in London by Daniel Defoe (easy readers .txt) 📕

"What do you want?" says John.

"Why, what do you intend to do?" says the constable.

"To do?" says John; "what would you have us to do?"

Const. Why don't you begone? What do you stay there for?

John. Why do you stop us on the King's highway, and pretend to refuse us leave to go on our way?

Const. We are not bound to tell you the reason, though we did let you know it was because of the plague.

John. We told you we were all sound, and free from the plague, which we were not bound to have satisfied you of, and yet you pretend to stop us on the highway.

Const. We have a right to stop it up, and our own safety obliges us to it; besides, this is not the King's highway, it is a way upon sufferance. You see here is a gate, and if we do let people pass here, we make them pay toll.

John. We have a right to seek our own safety as well as you; and you may see we are flying for our lives, and it is very unchristian and unjust in you to stop us.

Const. You may go back from whence you came, we do not hinder you from that.

John. No, it is a stronger enemy than you that keeps us from doing that, or else we should not have come hither.

Const. Well, you may go any other way, then.

John. No, no. I suppose you see we are able to send you going, and all the people of your parish, and come through your town when we will; but, since you have stopped us here, we are 137content. You see we have encamped here, and here we will live. We hope you will furnish us with victuals.

Const. We furnish you! What mean you by that?

John. Why, you would not have us starve, would you? If you stop us here, you must keep us.

Const. You will be ill kept at our maintenance.

John. If you stint us, we shall make ourselves the better allowance.

Const. Why, you will not pretend to quarter upon us by force, will you?

John. We have offered no violence to you yet, why do you seem to oblige us to it? I am an old soldier, and cannot starve; and, if you think that we shall be obliged to go back for want of provisions, you are mistaken.

Const. Since you threaten us, we shall take care to be strong enough for you. I have orders to raise the county upon you.

John. It is you that threaten, not we; and, since you are for mischief, you cannot blame us if we do not give you time for it. We shall begin our march in a few minutes.

Const. What is it you demand of us?

John. At first we desired nothing of you but leave to go through the town. We should have offered no injury to any of you, neither would you have had any injury or loss by us. We are not thieves, but poor people in distress, and flying from the dreadful plague in London, which devours thousands every week. We wonder how you can be so unmerciful.

Const. Self-preservation obliges us.

John. What! To shut up your compassion, in a case of such distress as this?

Const. Well, if you will pass over the fields on your left hand, and behind that part of the town, I will endeavor to have gates opened for you.

John. Our horsemen cannot pass with our baggage that way. It does not lead into the road that we want to go, and why should you force us out of the road? Besides, you have kept 138us here all day without any provisions but such as we brought with us. I think you ought to send us some provisions for our relief.

Const. If you will go another way, we will send you some provisions.

John. That is the way to have all the towns in the county stop up the ways against us.

Const. If they all furnish you with food, what will you be the worse? I see you have tents: you want no lodging.

John. Well, what quantity of provisions will you send us?

Const. How many are you?

John. Nay, we do not ask enough for all our company. We are in three companies. If you will send us bread for twenty men and about six or seven women for three days, and show us the way over the field you speak of, we desire not to put your people into any fear for us. We will go out of our way to oblige you, though we are as free from infection as you are.

Const. And will you assure us that your other people shall offer us no new disturbance?

John. No, no; you may depend on it.

Const. You must oblige yourself, too, that none of your people shall come a step nearer than where the provisions we send you shall be set down.

John. I answer for it, we will not.

Here he called to one of his men, and bade him order Captain Richard and his people to march the lower way on the side of the marshes, and meet them in the forest; which was all a sham, for they had no Captain Richard or any such company.

Accordingly, they sent to the place twenty loaves of bread and three or four large pieces of good beef, and opened some gates, through which they passed; but none of them had courage so much as to look out to see them go, and as it was evening, if they had looked, they could not have seen them so as to know how few they were.

139This was John the soldier's management; but this gave such an alarm to the county, that, had they really been two or three hundred, the whole county would have been raised upon them, and they would have been sent to prison, or perhaps knocked on the head.

They were soon made sensible of this, for two days afterwards they found several parties of horsemen and footmen also about, in pursuit of three companies of men armed, as they said, with muskets, who were broke out from London and had the plague upon them, and that were not only spreading the distemper among the people, but plundering the country.

As they saw now the consequence of their case, they soon saw the danger they were in: so they resolved, by the advice also of the old soldier, to divide themselves again. John and his