..Esther and Charley take in a vagrant Jo, who seems to be suffering the ill-effects of a raging fever. By the next morning, Jo has vanished, but he has left his illness behind him. Although Dickens does not identify the contagion as smallpox, he does mention Smallpox, the narrator (Esther) does express her concern that, should Charley survive, she will be much disfigured. Esther tends her young maid throughout her illness.