Not a sign of life was there about the place.

No cattle lowed, no dog barked; and an old crone who sat by the wayside with a bundle of ripe ears in her lap shook her head as she saw the wondering faces of the boys, and said: "All dead and gone! all dead and gone! Alive one day--dead the next! The plague carried them off, every one of them, harvest hands and all.

They say it was the men who came to cut the corn that brought it.

But who can tell?
They got yon field in"-- pointing to one where the golden stubble was to be seen short and compact--"but half were dead ere ever it was down; and then the sickness fell upon the house, and of those who did not fly not one remains.

Lord have mercy upon us! We be all dead men if He come not to our aid.
Who knows whose turn may come next ?" Truly the shadow of death seemed everywhere.