So Angus had returned with them, and soon settled down to his new life. Devoting himself earnestly to acquiring the language, at the end of six months he came to speak it fairly, and before he had been out a year could have passed as a Persian lad; at the same time he had made considerable progress in Arabic. His father had then dressed him in Persian fashion. There was a good deal of ill-feeling among the lower class against foreigners, and the pugnacity that had been fostered in Angus at school had frequent opportunities of displaying itself; for, in spite of good resolutions to the contrary, he was often goaded into fury by the taunts and abuse with which the boys assailed him when he went out alone, and had thrown himself upon them, and used his fists with such effect that he had sometimes put to flight half a dozen lads of his own age. But in Persian costume he could move about the streets unnoticed; and although he did not like the change at first, he acknowledged that it was useful, for his father pointed out to him that it was essential that nothing should take place that could add to the dislike with which foreigners were regarded. Already several angry complaints had been made by neighbours of the state in which their sons had come home after an encounter with him. Nearly four years after Angus arrived at Tabriz the plague made its appearance in Persia. It spread rapidly, and Tabriz was one of the cities which suffered most severely. One evening Mr. Campbell returned home from a visit to a customer and complained of feeling unwell. The next morning it was too evident that he had caught the infection. Before nightfall his wife also sickened. Twenty-four hours later both were dead. Mr. Campbell had a long talk with his son as soon as the disease manifested itself in the case of his wife.