“Of course I did; though I did not intend to pay Buckleton for a month or two. But he is a scoundrel, and I was glad to get rid of him, even at the expense of sacrificing some stocks I had.”
“Stocks?” said my uncle.
“I haven’t been so reckless as you think I have,” I replied. “I saved two-thirds of my salary till I was married, and doubled it by speculation every year.”
“What did you borrow a thousand dollars of your aunt for?”
“Because I didn’t wish to sell a thousand dollars’ worth of ‘coppers’ I had, and still have,” I continued, knowing very well what would satisfy my uncle. “Somebody was ‘bearing’ them then; but they are all right now, and I shall make a pretty thing on them by-and-by.”
“That’s all very well; but you are living too fast.”
I was afraid he would ask me what “coppers” I had been dickering in, but he did not, probably reserving an inquiry into the details of my financial operations till we were on better terms.
“I don’t think I am living beyond my means.”
“I do think so. You must give up that house in Needham Street, and live within your means,” he added, sternly.