make men conceal from the authorities any case of distemper which
appeared amongst them. But he said it was true enough that persons
of high degree were beginning to move into the country, at least
from the western part of the town; but that all felt very sure the
distemper would speedily be checked, and would not come within the
city walls at all, nor extend eastward beyond its boundaries.

Madam breathed a little more freely on hearing this, but made an
eager suggestion to her husband that they should go away if the
distemper began to spread.

But the Master Builder shook his head impatiently.

"A fine thing to run away from a chance ill, and court a certain
ruin! How do you think business will thrive if all the men run away
from their shops like affrighted sheep? No, no; it is often safest
to stay at home with closed doors than to run helter skelter to
strange places where one knows not who may have been last. Keep
indoors with your perfumes and spices, and keep the wench close
with you. That is the best way of outwitting the enemy. Besides, it
has come nowhere near us yet."

Madam had certainly no mind to be ruined, nor was she one who loved
change or the discomforts of travel. So she thought on the whole
her husband's advice was good. It would be much more comfortable to
stay here with closed doors, surrounded by the luxuries of home.

Now as Frederick sat with outstretched legs in one of the easiest
chairs in the room, and heard his father speak of these things, a
thought came into his head which tickled his fancy so vastly that