Dr。Parker，verygravebutbusinesslike，reachedthedeckamongthefirst。
“Mr。Ellery，“heshouted，“whereareyou？“
Theminister’sheadandshouldersappearedattheforecastlecompanion。“HereIam，doctor，“hesaid。“Willyoucomedown？“
Thedoctormadenoanswerinwords，buthehurriedbrisklyacrossthedeck。Oneman，EbenezerCapen，anoldfishermanandex-whalerfromEastTrumet，startedtofollowhim，buthewastheonlyone。
Theotherswaited，withscaredfaces，bytherail。
“Getherunderwayandinshoreassoonasyoucan，“orderedDr。
Parker。“Ebenezer，youcanhelp。IfIneedyoubelow，I’llcall。“
Theministerbackeddowntheladderandthedoctorfollowedhim。
Parkerbentoverthebunkforafewmomentsinsilence。
“He’sprettybad，“hemuttered。“Mightylittlechance。Heavens，whataden！Whobrokethatwindow？“
“Idid，“repliedEllery。“Theairdownherewasdreadful。“
Thedoctornoddedapprovingly。“Iguessso，“hesaid。“It’sbadenoughnow。We’vegottogetthispoorfellowoutofhereassoonaswecanorhe’lldiebeforeto-morrow。Mr。Ellery，“headdedsharply，“whatmadeyoudothis？Don’tyourealizetheriskyou’verun？“
“Someonehadtodoit。Youarerunningthesamerisk。“
“Notjustthesame，and，besides，it’smybusiness。Whydidn’tyouletsomeoneelse，someonewecouldspare——Humph！Confoundit，man！didn’tyouknowanybetter？Weren’tyouafraid？“
HistoneraspedEllery’sshakennerves。
“OfcourseIwas，“hesnappedirritably。“I’mnotanidiot。“
“Humph！Well，allright；Ibegyourpardon。Butyououghtn’ttohavedoneit。Nowyou’llhavetobequarantined。AndwhointhunderIcangettostaywithmeinthiscaseismorethanIknow。
Justsaysmallpoxtothistownanditgoestopieceslikeasmashedegg。OldEbCapenwillhelp，forhe’shadit，butitneedsmorethanone。“
“Whereareyougoingtotake——him？“pointingtothemoaningoccupantofthebunk。
“Tooneoftheemptyfishshantiesonthebeach。Therearebedsthere，suchastheyare，andtheplaceissecluded。Wecanburnitdownwhenthefussisover。“
“Thenwhycan’tIstay？Ishallhavetobequarantined，Iknowthat。Letmebetheothernurse。Whyshouldanyoneelseruntherisk？IHAVErunit。I’llstay。“
Dr。Parkerlookedathim。“Well！“heexclaimed。“Well！Imustsay，youngman，thatyou’vegot——Humph！Allright，Mr。Ellery；
I’mmuchobliged。“
CHAPTERXVII
INWHICHEBENEZERCAPENISSURPRISED
BeforesunsetthatafternoontheSanJosewasanchoredbehindthepointbytheinlet。Thefishingboatschangedmooringsandmovedfartherup，fornotasingleoneoftheirownerswouldtrusthimselfwithinahundredyardsofthestrickenbrigantine。Assoonastheanchorsweredropped，thevolunteercrewwasoversideandaway，eachofitsmemberstoreceiveascoldingfromhisfamilyfortakingsuchariskandtohavehisgarmentssulphur-smokedorburied。CharlieBurgess，whosewifewassomethingofaTartar，observedruefullythathe“didn’ttakenocomfort’roundhomenowadays；betweenthesmellofbrimstoneandthejawin’s’twasthehereafteraheadoftime。“
Thelargestofthebeachshanties，onewhichstoodbyitselfaquarterofamilefromthelight，washurriedlypreparedforuseasapesthouseandthesicksailorwascarriedthereonanimprovisedstretcher。Dr。ParkerandElleryliftedhimfromhisberthand，assistedbyoldEbenezerCapen，gothimuptothedeckandloweredhimintothedory。Ebenezerrowedthetriotothebeachandtherestofthejourneywascomparativelyeasy。
Theshantyhadthreerooms，oneofwhichwasgivenuptothepatient，oneusedasalivingroom，and，inthethird，Capenandtheministerweretosleep。Mattresseswereprocured，kind-heartedandsympathizingtownspeopledonatedcast-offtablesandchairs，andthebuildingwasmadeascomfortableasitcouldbe，underthecircumstances。Signboards，warningstrangerstokeepaway，wereerected，andinadditiontothem，theTrumetselectmenorderedropesstretchedacrossthelaneonbothsidesoftheshanty。Butropesandsignsweresuperfluous。Trumetingeneralwasinabluefunkandhadnodesiretoapproachwithinamileofthelocality。
Eventhedriverofthegrocerycart，whenhelefttheday’ssupplyofprovisions，pushedthepackagesundertheropes，yelledahurried“Hereyoube！“and，whippinguphishorse，departedatarattlinggallop。
Thevillagesatupnightstodiscusstheaffairandeverydaybroughtanewsensation。ThesurvivorsoftheSanJose’screw，awretched，panic-strickenquartetteofmulattosandPortuguese，wereapprehendedontheoutskirtsofDenboro，thetownbelowTrumetonthebayside，andwerepromptlysequesteredandfumigated，pendingshipmenttothehospitalatBoston。Theirstorywasshortbutgrewsome。ThebrigantinewasnotaTurksIslandsboat，butacoasterfromJamaica。ShehadsailedwithasmallcargoforSavannah。Twodaysoutandthesmallpoxmadeitsappearanceonboard。Thesufferer，anegroforemasthand，died。Thenanothersailorwasseizedandalsodied。Theskipper，whowastheowner，wasthenextvictim，andthevesselwasinastateofdemoralizationwhichthemate，anEnglishmannamedBradford，couldnotovercome。Thenfolloweddaysandnightsofcalmandterribleheat，ofpestilenceandallbutmutiny。Thematehimselfdied。
Therewasnooneleftwhounderstoodnavigation。AtlastcameasoutheastgaleandtheSanJosedrovebeforeit。FairweatherfoundherabreasttheCape。Thesurvivorsranherinafterdark，anchored，andreachedshoreinthelongboat。ThesickmanwhomtheyhadleftintheforecastlewasanewhandwhohadshippedatKingston。HisnamewasMurphy，theybelieved。Theyhadlefthimbecausehewassuretodie，liketheothers，and，besides，theyknewsomeonewouldseethedistresssignalsandinvestigate。Thatwasall，yes。SantaMaria！wasitnotenough？
ThistalewasadelicioustidbitforDidamaandthe“dailyadvertisers，“but，afterall，itwasameresidedishcomparedtoMr。Ellery’sastonishingbehavior。Thathe，theministeroftheRegularchurch，shouldriskhislife，riskdyingofthesmallpox，tohelpastrangerandacommonsailor，wasincomprehensible。
Didama，atleast，couldnotunderstandit，andsaidso。“Mysoulandbody！“sheexclaimed，withupliftedhands。“Iwouldn’tgonighmyowngrandfatherifhehadthesmallpox，letalonesettin’upwithastrangecritterthatIdidn’tknowfromAdam’scat。Andaministerdoin’it！Heoughttoconsiderthecongregation，ifhedonenothin’else。Ain’twemoreimportantthanacommonwaterratthat，evenwhenhe’sdyin’，swears，soIheartell，likeaship’spollparrot？Ineverheardofsuchfoolishness。ItbeatsME！“
It“beat“agoodmanywho，liketheWidowRogers，couldnotunderstandself-sacrifice。Butthereweremore，andtheythemajorityofTrumet’sintelligentpeople，whounderstoodandappreciated。Dr。Parker，amanwithareputationfordangerouslyliberalviewsconcerningreligiousmattersandaninfrequentattendantatchurch，wasenthusiasticandprodigalofpraise。
“ByGeorge！“vowedthedoctor。“That’sMYkindofChristianity。
That’sthekindofparsonIcantieto。I’mforJohnElleryafterthis，first，last，andallthetime。Andifhedon’tgetthesmallpoxanddie，andifhedoeslivetopreachintheRegularchurch，you’llseemeinoneofthefrontpewseverySunday。
That’swhatIthinkofhim。EverybodyelseranawayandIdon’tblame’emmuch。Buthestayed。Yes，sir，byGeorge！hestayed。
’Somebodyhadtodoit，’sayshe。Itakeoffmyhattothatyoungfellow。“
CaptainZebMayowentaboutcheeringforhisparson。Mrs。Mayocookeddelicaciestobepushedundertheropesfortheminister’sconsumption。Theparishcommittee，ataspecialsession，votedanincreaseofsalaryandorderedaweeklyserviceofprayerforthesafedeliveryoftheiryoungleaderfromdanger。EvenCaptainElkanahdidnottrytoopposethegeneralopinion；“althoughI
cannotbutfeel，“hesaid，“thatMr。Ellery’scoursewasrashandthatheshouldhaveconsideredusandourinterestinhiswelfarebefore——“
“Dumitall！“roaredCaptainZeb，jumpingtohisfeetandinterrupting，“hedidn’tconsiderhimself，didhe？andain’theasimportantTOhimselfasyou，ElkanahDaniels，oranybodyelseinthismeetin’house？Bah！don’tlet’shavenomoretalklikethatorI’llsaysomethin’thatwon’tbefittoputintheminutes。“
EvenatCome-Outers’meeting，whenEzekielBassetthintedata“justpunishmentfallin’ontheheadoftheleaderofthePharisees，“ThophBlackroseanddefendedEllery。
KeziahCoffinwas，perhaps，theonepersonmostdisturbedbyherparson’sheroism。ShewouldhavegonetotheshantyimmediatelyhadnotDr。Parkerprevented。Evenasitwas，shedidgoasfarastheropes，butthereshewaswardedoffbyEbenezeruntilEllerycamerunningoutandbadehercomenonearer。
“Butyoushan’tstayhere，Mr。Ellery，“vowedKeziah。“Or，ifyoudo，I’llstay，too。Iain’tafraidofsmallpox。“
“Iam，“confessedtheminister，“andI’mnotgoingtoletanyoneI
careforexposethemselvestoitunnecessarily。IfyoutrytocomeinhereIshall“——hesmiled——“well，CapenandIwillputyouoffthepremisesbyforce。There！“
Keziahsmiled，too，inspiteofherself。“Maybeyou’dhaveyourhandsfull，“shesaid。“OJohn，whatintheworldmadeyoudothisthing？It’sdreadful。Ishan’tsleepawink，thinkin’ofyou。I
justmustcomehereandhelp。“
“No，youmustn’t。Youcancomeasfarasthe——thedeadlineonceinawhile，ifCaptainMayowilldriveyouover，butthat’sall。
I’mallright。Don’tworryaboutme。I’mfeelingtiptopandI’mnotgoingtobesick。Nowgohomeandmakemesomeofthat——someofthosepuddingsofyours。Wecanusethemtoadvantage，can’twe，Capen？“
“Betyer！“repliedEbenezerwithenthusiasm。Keziah，aftermoreexpostulation，wentbacktotheparsonage，wherethepuddingsweremadeandseasonedwithtearsandferventprayers。ShewrotetoGraceandtoldherthenewsoftheSanJose，butshesaidnothingoftheminister’spartinit。“Poorthing！“sighedKeziah，“she’sbearin’enoughalready。Herbackain’tasstrongasmine，maybe，andmine’smostcrackin’。Well，letitcrackforgoodandall；I
don’tknowbutthat’stheeasiestwayout。“
Thesicksailorgrewnobetter。Daysandnightspassedandheravedandmoanedorlayinastupor。EbenezeractedasdaynursewhileElleryslept，and，atnight，theminister，beingyounger，wentonwatch。Thedoctorcamefrequently，butsaidtherewasnohope。Aquestionoftimeonly，andashorttime，hesaid。
Capenoccupiedhismindwithspeculationsconcerningthepatient。
“Doyouknow，parson，“hesaid，“seem’sifI’dseenthefellersomewheresafore。’CourseIneverhave，butwhenIusedtogowhalin’v’yagesIcruisedfromoneendofcreationtot’other，prettynigh，andIMIGHThavemethim。However，hisownfolkswouldn’tknowhimnow，wouldthey？soIcal’lateI’mjustgettin’
foolishinmyoldage。Saidhisname’sMurphy，themha’f-breedsdid，didn’tthey？Iknowbetter’nthat。“
“Howdoyouknow？“askedEllery，idlylistening。
“’Causewhenhe’sfloppin’roundonthebed，outofhishead，hesingsoutallkindsofstuff。Agooddealofit’splaincussin’，butthere’stimeswhenhetalksrespectableandonceIheardhimsay’darn’andanothertime’Ical’late。’NownoIrishmansaysTHAT。That’sYankee，thatis。“
“Well，heoughttoknowhisownname。“
“Prob’lyhedoes——orusedto——but’mostlikelyhedon’twantnobodyelsetoknowit。That’swhyhesaid’twasMurphyand，bein’asheDIDsayit，Iknow’tain’tit。Seemyargument，don’tyou，Mr。
Ellery？“
“Yes，Iguessso。“
“Um——hm！Why，landsakes，namesdon’tmeannothin’withseafarin’
men。I’veseenthetimewhenIhadmorenames——Humph！Lookskindofsquallyofftotheeast’ard，don’tit？“
Thatnightthesickmanwasmuchworse。Hisravingswereincessant。Theminister，sittinginhischairinthelivingroom，bythecookstove，couldhearthesteadystreamofshouts，oaths，andmutteredfragmentsofdialoguewithimaginarypersons。
Sympathyforthesuffererhefelt，ofcourse，andyethe，aswellasDr。ParkerandoldCapen，hadheardenoughtorealizethattheworldwouldbenonetheworseforlosingthisparticularspecimenofhumanity。Thefellowhadundoubtedlylivedahardlife，amongtheroughestofcompanionsafloatandashore。EvenEbenezer，whobyhisownconfession，wasfarfrombeingasaint，exclaimeddisgustedlyatthecloseofaday’swatchingbythesickbed：