"Mother!" said he.
"Precisely," said I. "Now, here's a delicate question. Do you always tell womenfolk the truth?"
"No," said he, stoutly.
"Do you tell them--shall we say quibbles,--then?"
"Quibbles?" said Dick, opening his mouth.
"It is not a fruit, Dicky," said I, "so you need not keep it open. By quibbles I mean lies. Do you tell your womenfolk lies, when the truth is not good for them to know?"
"No," said Dick, as steadily as before, "for they finds you out."
"Precisely," I agreed. "But since you neither tell the truth nor tell lies, what in the world do you do?"
"Well," answered Dick, "I say that it's a secret which mother isn't to know for a couple of days."
"I see. And when the couple of days has gone?