Matthew Wood
and Dr. Bulkeley suspend their feud because Mercy's life is at stake. Mercy has fallen gravely
ill with fever, and although the community's doctor has ridden out from Hartford to "bleed
her" twice, she is not getting better. The young doctor has no further remedies to try,
and Matthew Wood is desperate as he watches his daughter lie, near death, "on some remote
borderland between sleeping and waking".
On "the fourth morning of
Mercy's illness...Matthew (sits), turning the pages of the Bible, searching in vain for some
hope to cling to". He finally announces that he is "going out for a time", but
as he is leaving, the Reverend Bulkeley appears at his door. The Reverend and Matthew had been
feuding about Matthew's political leanings in wanting to stand up to the British Crown for the
colony's rights, but in this time of crisis, both men, sincere and loving men at heart, are more
than willing to put their differences aside. Reverend Bulkeley tells Matthew, "you're a
stubborn mule and a rebel, but this is no time for politics...time was your Mercy was like my
own daughter...let me do what I can, with God's help, to save her", to which Matthew
responds with a cry, "God bless you...I was coming to fetch you!" (Chapter
17).
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