’Are you,’ he drawled, as though he hadn’t the faintest interest in the subject, but there was a look in his eyes somehow I didn’t like. ’Why is that wretched kitten up here again?’ he said. ’I can hear it wheezing,’ and he looked under the bed. ’It’s me,’ I said. ’It’s I,’ said Ross. ’Oh, have you got it, too?’ (I will not be reproved for grammar by a twin). ’Are you making that noise for fun, Meg?’ ’No, I can’t help it,’ I said crossly. ’Hadn’t you better have one of those things on made out of a muslin curtain, with hot muck inside,’ he added vaguely, racking his brains for medical knowledge. ’Can’t think what the stuff’s called.’ ’No,’ I said violently, ’I hadn’t better!’ Presently the house grew quiet and I began to worry over Ross, his bad nights, the constant pain and the absolute refusal to let any one do anything for him; he won’t have a fire and snaps Brown’s head off if he suggests a doctor. He was really angry with me on Saturday because I—oh, well, it’s no use worrying, I reflected, as I mopped my eyes. Just as I was about to try to compose myself for slumber, with a little folding of the hands to sleep, wishing I could drown the kitten, Nannie came in. You will hardly believe it when I tell you that she carried in between two hot plates the thing that Ross had mentioned, in a muslin curtain. ’Master Ross says,’ began Nannie. ’Nannie,’ I retorted, and I was furious, ’I simply will not have that beastly thing on just because Ross says so.’ ’Well,’ said Nannie soothingly, ’have it because I say so, if you’d rather,’ and she clapped it on. And I decided, as she closed the door, that I should run away at dawn. But the kitten wouldn’t stop, and then I started choking. There was dead silence in the house, so I hoped that Ross was sleeping well for once, and I buried my head under the bedclothes and coughed comfortably. I started up presently with a little shriek to find a giant in pyjamas making up my fire. ’Sorry I frightened you,’ said Ross. ’What have you got your head buried for, can’t you sleep?’ ’No,’ I replied. ’But I told you to knock if you wanted me, Meg.’ ’I didn’t want you,’ I said crossly, ’that’s why I didn’t knock.’ ’You’re very difficult to take care of,’ said Ross, surveying me from the foot of the bed. ’Not nearly so difficult as you are,’ I retorted, all the worry of his continued sleepless nights coming to a head suddenly in my mind, ’you won’t let me do a thing for you. I cry about you sometimes.’ ’You cry about _me_?’ said the giant, suddenly sitting on the edge of the bed. ’Yes,’ and I leaned against him; he seemed a friendly sort of giant at the moment. ’When did you cry last?’ he demanded. ’To-night,’ and I fumbled for a handkerchief I didn’t really need. ’Why?’ asked the giant.