"Well," he said, roughly, "what is it? Couldn't you wait until I came in."
The boy shook his head.
"No," he said, and there was a strange light in his eyes, which never for a moment left the other's face. "I wanted to see you alone."
"Well, I am alone—or I wish I were," retorted Jasper, brutally. "What is it?" then he put his hand on the boy's shoulder and looked at him more closely. "Oh, I see!" he said, with a sneer. "You've been playing eavesdropper! Well," and he laughed cruelly, "listeners hear no good of themselves, though you heard no news."
A slight contraction of the thin lips was the only sign that the fell shaft had sped home.
"Yes," he said, calmly and sternly; "I have been eavesdropping; I have heard every word, Jasper."
Jasper nodded.
"Then you can indorse the truth of what I said, my dear Frank," and he smiled, evilly. "I have no doubt you have not forgotten your little escapade."
"I have not forgotten," was the response.