Nicholas looked doubtful.
"You judge me by yourself, my boy," he answered. "Boys adapt themselves to ladies' society easy, but I'm an old crooked stick that don't lay straight with the rest of the pile."
"I don't care what you are, Mr. Bundy," said Oliver, with playful imperiousness; "my mother wants to see you, and come you must!"
Nicholas Bundy laughed.
"Well, Oliver," he said, "things seem turned round, and you have become my guardian. Well, if it must be, it must, but I'm afraid you'll be ashamed of me."
"If I am, Mr. Bundy, set me down as a conceited puppy," said Oliver warmly. "Haven't you been my kind and constant friend?"
Nicholas looked pleased at Oliver's warm-hearted persistence.
"I'll go, Oliver," he said. "Come to think of it, I should like to see your mother."
When Nicholas and Oliver entered the elegant Graham mansion, the former looked a little uneasy, but his countenance lighted up when Mrs. Conrad, her face genial with smiles, thanked him warmly for his kindness to her boy.
"I couldn't help it, ma'am," he said. "I've got nobody to care for except him, and I hope you'll let me look after him a little still."