Page:Zodiac stories by Blanche Mary Channing.pdf/243

226 "I did n't swallow anything! It 's just their wanting to have a secret all to themselves, that 's all!"

"If you mean your pa and your ma, Master Bobby, you should speak of them as such. 'They' does n't stand for no more than 'he' or 'she' for a name, as I 'm always telling you."

"I don't care!" growled Bobby.

"'Don't care' was hanged on a cherry-tree," rejoined Nurse calmly.

"Well, let him! I say, what 'll you do when cousin Winsleigh-Fane comes, and his child who eats queer things, and his niggers?"

Nurse turned round from her sewing and looked at Bobby searchingly.

"I should like to know what you mean by that stuff," she said.

"Oh, yes, I thought you would!" cried the boy maliciously. "But you can ask Mamma! I ain't going to tell you any more than that!"