liveliness of animated natureand things in general with the cheerful air that had been habitual tohim before he was compelled to flee the face of man. The pleasure hehad felt in his brief intercourse with the gruff hunter of the Swamp hadremained a bright spot in his lonely life. He naturally enjoyed withmuch greater zest the company of the lively boy who had thusunexpectedly crossed his path, but when he retired for the night--havingtold the lad to make for himself a couch in the fire-wood hut--the utterdesolation of his life became, if possible, more deeply impressed onhim.
During the night his wounds inflamed and became much more painful, andin the morning--whether from this cause or not, we cannot say--he foundhimself in a high fever.
His new friend, like most healthy boys, was a profound sleeper, and whenthe time for breakfast arrived he found it necessary to get up and awakehim.
"Ho! lad, rise," he cried at the entrance to the firewood hut, "youslumber soundly. Come out and help me to get ready our morning meal."
The lad obeyed at once.
"What is your name?" he asked, as the lad appeared.
"Cormac," he replied.
"Well, Cormac, do you roast the meat this morning. Truly, it seems thatyou have come just in the nick of time, for I feel so ill that my headseems like a lump of stone, and my skin is burning. It is not oftenthat I have had to ask the aid of man in such matters. Will you get mea draught of water from the spring hard by? I will lie down again for alittle."
Cormac willingly ran to a neighbouring spring and filled thereat a cupmade of the bark of the birch tree, with which he returned to Bladud'shut.
"Just put it inside the door where I can reach it," shouted the prince."Do not enter on any account."
Lifting a corner of the skin that covered the entrance, the lad placedthe cup inside, and then, sitting down by the fire outside, proceeded toprepare breakfast.
When it was ready he called to Bladud to say whether he would have some,at the same time thrusting a savoury rib underneath the curtain; but theprince declined it.
"I cannot eat," he said; "let me lie and rest if possible. My poor boy,this is inhospitable treatment. Yet I cannot help it."
"Never mind me," returned Cormac, lightly. "I like to nurse the sick,and I'll keep you well supplied with water, and cook venison or birdstoo if you want them. I can even shoot them if required."
"No need for that," returned Bladud, "there is plenty of food laid upfor winter. But don't come inside my hut, remember. It will be deathif you do!"
All that day the lad sat by the fire or went to the well for water, ofwhich his patient drank continuously. During the night the prince wasvery restless, and groaned a good deal, so the boy resolved to sit upand watch by the fire. Next morning Bladud was delirious, and as hecould not rise even to fetch from the door the water for which hethirsted, Cormac resolved to disobey orders and risk the consequences.Entering the hut, therefore, and sitting down beside the patient, hetended him for many days and nights--taking what rest he could obtain bysnatches beside the camp-fire.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
THE PIGS' CURE.
It was not long before our hero recovered from his delirium. Leading,as he had been doing, an abstemious and healthy life, ordinary diseasecould not long maintain its grasp of him. His superabundant life seemedto cast it off with the ease with which his physical frame was able tocast aside human foes. But he could not thus shake off the leprosy.
One of the first things he did on recovering consciousness was touncover his arm. The fatal spot had increased considerably in size.With something of a shudder he looked round his little hut, endeavouringto remember where he was and to recall recent events. He was alone atthe time, and he fancied the fight with the robbers and rescue of theboy must have been all a dream. The name Cormac, however, puzzled himnot a little. Many a time before that had he dreamed of vivid scenesand thrilling incidents, but never in his recollection had he dreamt aname!
Being thoughtfully disposed, he lay meditating listlessly on this pointin that tranquil frame of mind which often accompanies convalescence,and had almost fallen asleep when a slight noise outside awoke him. Thecurtain-door was lifted, and Cormac, entering, sat quietly down on ablock of wood beside him.
Bladud became suddenly aware that he had not been dreaming, but he didnot move. Through his slightly opened eyelids he watched the lad whilehe mixed some berries in a cup of water. As he lay thus silentlyobservant, he was deeply impressed with the handsome countenance of hisnurse and the graceful movements of his slight figure.
Presently the thought of his disease recurred to him--it was seldom,indeed, absent from his mind--and the strict injunctions which he hadgiven to his young companion.
"Boy!--boy!" he cried suddenly, with a vigour that caused the boy tostart off his seat and almost capsize the cup, "did I not forbid you toenter my hut or to touch me?"
At first Cormac looked alarmed, but, seeing that a decided change forthe better had taken place in his patient, his brow smoothed and helaughed softly.
"How dared you to disobey me?" exclaimed Bladud again in stern tones.
"I dared because I saw you were unable to prevent me," returned the lad,with a quiet smile. "Besides, you were too ill to feed yourself, so, ofcourse, I had to do it for you. Do you suppose I am so ungrateful tothe man who saved my life as to stand aside and let him die for want ofa helping hand? Come, now, be reasonable and let me give you thisdrink." He approached as he spoke.
"Keep off!--keep off, I say," shouted the prince in a voice so resolutethat Cormac was fain to obey. "It is bad enough to come into my hut,but you _must not_ touch me!"
"Why not?--I have touched you already."
"How! when?"
"I have lifted your head many a time to enable you to drink when youcould not lift it yourself."
A groan escaped Bladud.
"Then it is too late! Look at this," he cried, suddenly uncovering hisarm.
"What is that?" asked the boy, with a look of curiosity.
"It is--leprosy!"
"I am not afraid of leprosy!"
"Not afraid of it!" exclaimed the prince, "that may well be, for youhave the air of one who fears nothing; but it will kill you for allthat, unless the Maker of all defends you, for it is a dread--aterrible--disease that no strength can resist or youth throw off. Itundermines the health and eats the flesh off the bones, renders thosewhom it attacks horrible to look at, and in the end it kills them. Butit is possible that you may not yet have caught the infection, poor lad,so you must keep away from me now, and let not a finger touch mehenceforth. Your life, I say, may depend on it."
"I will obey you as to that," replied Cormac, "now that you arebeginning to recover, but I must still continue to put food and waterwithin your reach."
"Be it so," rejoined the prince, turning away with a slight groan, forhis excitement not less than the conversation had exhausted him. In afew minutes more he was asleep with an expression of profound anxietystereotyped on his countenance.
It was not long after the fever left him that returning strength enabledBladud to crawl out of his hut, and soon after that he was able toramble through the woods in company with Cormac, and with Brownie--thatfaithful friend who had lain by his master's side during all hisillness. The sparkling river gladdened the eyes, and the bracing airand sunshine strengthened the frame of the prince, so that with thecheerful conversation of Cormac and the gambols of his canine friend hewas sometimes led to forget for a time the dark cloud that hung overhim.
One day he was struck by something in the appearance of his dog, and,sitting down on a bank, he called it to him. After a few minutes'careful examination he turned to Cormac with a look of deep anxiety.
"My boy," he said, "I verily believe that the hound is smitten with myown complaint. In his faithful kindness he has kept by me until I haveinfected him."
"That cannot be," returned Cormac, "for, during my rambles alone, whenyou were too ill to move, I saw that a great many
of the pigs wereaffected by a skin disease something like that on the dog, and, youknow, you could not have infected the pigs, for you have never touchedthem."
Bladud's anxiety was not removed but deepened when he heard this, for hecalled to remembrance the occasion when he had rescued one of the littlepigs and carried it for some distance in his arms.
"And, do you know," continued the lad, "I have observed a strange thing.I have seen that many of the pigs, affected with this complaint, havegone down to the place where the hot waters rise, and, after bathingthere, have returned all covered with mud, and these pigs seem to havegot better of the disease, while many of those which did not go down tothe swamp have died."
"That is strange indeed," returned the prince; "I must