He had noticed that these extraordinary and charming people, father and mother, were sometimes unhappy and were hiding this from everybody.

Therefore he was also concealing his discovery, and gave everybody the impression that all was well.

Many times he found mamma crying somewhere in a corner in the drawing room, or in the bedroom--his own room was next to her bedroom--and one night, very late, almost at dawn, he heard the terribly loud and angry voice of father and the weeping voice of mother.

He lay a long time, holding his breath, but then he was so terrified by that unusual conversation in the middle of the night that he could not restrain himself and he asked his nurse in a soft voice: "What are they saying ?" And the nurse answered quickly in a whisper: "Sleep, sleep.

They are not saying anything." "I am coming over to your bed." "Aren't you ashamed of yourself?
Such a big boy!" "I am coming over to your bed." Thus, terribly afraid lest they should be heard, they spoke in whispers and argued in the dark; and the end was that Yura moved over to nurse's bed, upon her rough, but cosy and warm blanket.
In the morning papa and mamma were very cheerful and Yura pretended that he believed them and it seemed that he really did believe them.