t weather, and Martha was death to any unlucky fly that happened to
wing its way inside.

But Uncle Aaron was so fidgety and nervous that even a solitary insect
buzzing around kept him awake at night, and, at his request, Mrs.
Rushton had secured the sticky sheet that now lay glistening on the
table.

It must have been Teddy's evil genius that caused Bunk, the house cat,
to come strolling past the door at just that moment. He was so sleek and
lazy and self-satisfied that Teddy was strongly tempted to shake him out
of his calm.

He hurried down to the kitchen, found a piece of meat on one of the
breakfast dishes that Martha was clearing up, and ran upstairs again.

Bunk was still there, putting the last touches on his toilet. His smooth
fur, washed and rewashed, shone like silk.

"Here, Bunk," called Teddy coaxingly, holding the bit of meat just above
the little table.

The confiding Bunk looked up lazily. Then his eyes brightened. He
measured the distance, jumped and came down with all four paws on the
sticky fly paper.

With a yowl of surprise and fright, he tried to free himself from the
mess. He used his head to get it away from his feet, and only succeeded
in smearing his face and shoulders. At times he would get one foot
loose, only to get it stuck again when he tried to free another. In less
time than it takes to tell, he was a yellow, sticky mass.

Thoroughly panic stricken, he took a flying leap to the desk, upsetting
a bottle of ink in his course and landed on the bed, where he rolled
over and over on the white vest and other clothes so carefully laid out
by Uncle Aaron.

Teddy was almost as scared as the cat. He dashed after him, grabbing at
the paper, getting some severe scratches in the process, and finally
yanked it away. As for Bunk, he dashed out of the room like a yellow
whirlwind.

Fred, who had heard the racket, came running upstairs and found Teddy
standing aghast at the mischief he had caused. The older brother took in
the situation at a glance.

"Quick," he urged, "get out of the window. They'll be up in a minute."

The kitchen extension was just under the window of the room. Teddy
lifted the screen and dropped to the roof. From there it was only twelve
feet to the ground and he made the drop in safety. No one saw him but
Martha, and that faithful soul could be depended on to keep silent.

Mr. Mansfield Rushton had already left for the city, but Mrs. Rushton
and Uncle Aaron came hur