"Oh! I'm doing well enough," said the boy, indifferently, for Nicholas Thorne's taste for study was very moderate. "Did you bring me any money, mother?"
"You have your regular allowance, Nicholas."
"It isn't enough. What's a dollar a week?"
"It is a good deal for me to pay," said his mother. "Remember, I have to pay your school bills, and my means are but small."
"A dollar a week is very small for a boy of my age," grumbled Thorne. "Why, some of the little boys get more; and there's that new boy, Jasper Kent, gets five dollars, so they say."
The lady betrayed strong interest at the sound of his name.
"I forgot," she said. "So Jasper Kent has arrived, has he?"
"What, mother, do you know him?" demanded Thorne, surprised in turn.
"Yea, I know him. What do you think of him?"
"Think of him? I hate him!" said Thorne, fiercely.