The Nurse and Mother Bunch began to comfort her, and explain that the doctor thought she had the scarlatina; not at all badly; but that if any of the others caught it, nobody could guess how bad they would be; especially Mamma, who had just been ill; and so she was to be rolled up in her blankets, and put into a carriage, and taken to her uncle’s; and there she would stay till she was not only well, but could safely come home without carrying infection about with her.

Lucy was a good little girl, and knew that she must bear it; so, though she could not help crying a little when she found she must not kiss any one, nay not even see them, and that nobody might go with her but Lonicera, her own china doll, she made up her mind bravely; and she was a good deal cheered when Clare, the biggest and best of all the dolls, was sent into her, with all her clothes, by Maude, her eldest sister, to be her companion,—­it was such an honor and so very kind of Maude that it quite warmed the sad little heart.

So Lucy had her little scarlet flannel dressing gown on, and her shoes and stockings, and a wonderful old knitted hood with a tippet to it, and then she was rolled round and round in all her bed-clothes, and Mrs. Bunker took her up like a very big baby, not letting any one else touch her.  How Mrs. Bunker got safe down all the stairs no one can tell, but she did, and into the carriage, and there poor Lucy looked back and saw at the windows Mamma’s face, and Papa’s, and Maude’s and all the rest, all nodding and smiling to her, but Maude was crying all the time, and perhaps Mamma was too.

The journey seemed very long; and Lucy was really tired when she was put down at last in a big bed, nicely warmed for her, and with a bright fire in the room.  As soon as she had had some beef-tea, she went off soundly to sleep and only woke to drink tea, give the dolls their supper, and put them to sleep.

The next evening she was sitting up by the fire, and the fourth day she was running about the house as if nothing had ever been the matter with her, but she was not to go home for a fortnight; and being wet, cold, dull weather, it was not always easy to amuse herself.  She had her dolls, to be sure, and the little dog Don, to play with, and sometimes Mr. Bunker would let her make funny things with the dough, or stone the raisins, or even help make a pudding; but still there was a good deal of time on her hands.  She had only two books with her, and the rash had made her eyes weak, so that she did not much like reading them.  The notes that every one wrote from home were quite enough for her.  What she liked best—­that is, when Mrs. Bunker could not attend to her—­was to wander about the museum, explaining the things to the dolls:  “That is a crocodile, Lonicera; it eats people up, and has a little bird to pick its teeth.  Look, Clare, that bony thing is a skeleton —­the skeleton of a lizard.  Paws off, my dear; mustn’t touch.  That’s amber, just like barley sugar, only not so nice; people make necklaces of it.  There’s a poor little dead fly inside.  Those are the dear delightful humming-birds; look at their crests, just like Mamma’s jewels.  See the shells; aren’t they beauties?  People get pearls out of those great flat ones, and dive all down to the bottom of the sea after them; mustn’t touch, my dear, only look; paws off.”