[I] smelled the breath of death for the first time since all this hardship began, [and] was scared. —Diary of J. Henry C. Helmuth,
Philadelphia, 1793

What does this quotation from the beginning of the chapter add to the story?

The quotation connects the story to the feelings of a real person who experienced the outbreak.
J. Henry C. Helmuth is an important character in the story.
The quotation identifies the narrator of the novel.
The quotation helps explain the cause of the outbreak.