Mott burst out laughing.
"What a precious goose you are," he exclaimed. "Well, secret or no secret, I'm going to hear it; so tell me."
Floss looked at nurse despairingly.
"You tell, nurse, please," she said.
So nurse told, and Maurice looked more amused than ever. "What an idea!" he exclaimed. "I don't believe Carrots'll hold out for a month, whatever Floss may do, unless he has a precious lump of ac—ac—what is it the head people call it?—acquisitiveness for his age. But you needn't have made such a fuss about your precious secret. Here, nurse, give us some tea, and you may put in all the sugar Floss and Carrots have saved by now."
Floss and Carrots looked ready to cry, but nurse reassured them.
"Never you fear," she said; "he shall have what's proper, but no more. Never was such a boy for sweet things as you, Master Mott."
"It shows in my temper, doesn't it?" he said saucily. And then he was so pleased with his own wit that for a few minutes he forgot to tease, occupying himself by eating lots of bread and butter instead, so that tea went on peaceably.