ttacks like this, unless,
indeed, if you have money, you were to put it away safely, and let
everybody know that you have done so. Tell me truly, mother, have you
any money?"

"Jack, what a boy you are to ask questions. Well, perhaps I have a
little--a very little; but no one will ever find out where I have hidden
it."

"But they will try, mother, as this man has done, and you will always be
in peril of your life. Why not place it in the hands of some safe
person?"

"Safe person! Who's safe nowadays?"

"Why, for instance, there's Mr. Wilson."

"Wilson! what do you know about him, Jack, except that he has a smooth
face and a bald head? You're young, Jack, and don't know the world. The
money's safe where it is, and no one will ever find it."

"If so, who is to find it after--" I stopped, for I did not like to say,
after she was dead.

"I know what you would have said, Jack; who's to find it after my death?
That's very true. I never thought of that, and I must will it away. I
never thought of that, Jack, it's very true, and I'm glad that you have
mentioned it. But who dare I tell? who can I trust?--Can I trust you,
Jack?--can I?--I ought, for it's all for you, Jack, when I die."

"Mother, whoever it may be for, you may, I hope, trust me."

"Well, I think I can. I'll tell you where it is, Jack, and that will
prove that it is for you, for nobody else will know where to find it.
But, Jack, dear, dear Jack, don't you rob me, as my son did; don't rob
me, and leave me penniless, as he did; promise me?"

"I never will, mother; you need not be afraid."

"Yes; so you say, and so he said; he swore and he cried too, Jack, and
then he took it all, and left his mother without a farthing."

"Well, mother, then don't tell me; I'd rather not know. You will only be
uncomfortable, and so let the money go."

"No, Jack, that won't do either; I will tell you, for I can trust you.
But first, Jack, go out and look behind the house, that there is no one
listening at the window; for if any one should hear--go, look round
carefully, and then come back."

I did as she wished, and then Nanny bid me hold my head closer to her,
while she whispered, "You must take the back out of the fireplace, and
then pull out three bricks, and then put your hand into the hole, and
you will find a small box; and there you will find a little money--a
very little, Jack, hardly worth having, but still it may be of some
use; and it's all yours when I die