There he was stopped until his bill of health was examined, and that small manuscript being found all right, he was permitted to pass on in peace.
Everywhere he went, the trail of the serpent was visible over all.

Death and Desolation went hand in hand.

Outside as well as inside the gates, great piles of wood and coal were arranged, waiting only the midnight hour to be fired.

Here, however, no one seemed to be stirring; and no sound broke the silence but the distant rumble of the death-cart, and the ringing of the driver's bell.

There were lights in some of the houses, but many of them were dark and deserted, and nearly every one bore the red cross of the plague.
It was a gloomy scene and hour, and Sir Norman's heart turned sick within him as he noticed the ruin and devastation the pestilence had everywhere wrought.