"Perhaps I may as well tell you," said his mother, thoughtfully, "but I wish you to keep the matter secret from him."
"You won't catch me telling him anything, except that he is a scoundrel!" muttered Nicholas.
"Then sit down by me, and I will tell you much that you do not know, but ought now to hear. Is the door shut?"
"Yes."
"Go and see. It is important that no one should overhear us."
Nicholas complied with her request.
"It's shut fast enough," he said. "Now what have you got to tell me?"
"To begin with, do you know where I get the money I pay for your schooling and clothes?"
"My father left you some money, didn't he?"
"He left me a small property which rents for two hundred dollars a year."