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212 which you ought to protect; and instead of resisting the mobs, you have made yourself a leader among them. We do not know if you have thus betrayed us through fear or greed, but you shall choose yourself what label we are to hang about your neck: 'This is one who sold his town for thirty pieces of silver.' Prices are higher than they were in Iscariot's day, so I will put instead, 'An Alderman who saved his own skin at the expense of his fellow-citizens.'"

"Breugnon," said he, with an ugly look," I have only done my duty in burning infected dwellings according to law."

"Yes, and when a man is not one of your adherents you mark his house with a cross, and call it infected. And how about letting the mob in to pillage? That is a good way to stop the spread of the plague, isn't it?"

"I was unable to prevent it, in all cases, and besides, if these ruffians catch the pest while they are looting the houses, so much the better, we are rid of two nuisances at once."

"A splendid idea. The robbers kill the plague, and the plague kills the robbers, and the Alderman inherits what remains of the town! It is as I said just now, the clever doctor survives both disease and patient. Now I tell you what it is. Master