'Then can Charlie carry a measle away on his fur?' the little boy asked, very much frightened, and began to cry because he supposed that Charlie ought to be taken away from him. They were much upset at the idea, and the nurse said in a low voice: 'We can arrange all that, ma'am; don't thwart him, whatever you do!' And so Charlie was left, but from that moment he had an uncomfortable feeling that the nurse meant to kill him when he had done his work of amusing Teddy. So when Teddy was going to get better he watched to see the sick-room door open, and ran away and came in here. That was the first time mother had heard of the reasons that had induced him to leave his home, and she was very serious. 'I don't believe that _we_ are liable to measles,' she said thoughtfully. 'But you may give it to Auntie May.' 'She never takes me on her lap,' said the black cat sadly. 'I ought not to repine, for it is safer for her, and she is a nice lady. I hunger for a word of affection sometimes, though.' 'The question is, not your need of affection,' said mother severely, 'but the danger of Auntie May's getting measles. As your fur--excuse me--is not very long, perhaps you cannot carry infection like, for instance, Freddy here. We won't worry.' I looked every day after that to see if Auntie May was coming out in red spots like little Teddy, but there was not a single measle that I could see. It was, however, a nasty scare, and mother said Charlie was little better than an adventurer, and ought not to have come in like that without any references at all.