At which Nance jumped up with fiery face and sparks in her eyes and left
the room, and Gard, who understood no word of what had passed, yet
understood without possibility of doubt that Tom's speech had been
mortally offensive to his sister, and set him down in his own mind as of
low esteem and boorish disposition.

As for Peter, to whom such advice was as useless as the act would have
been impossible at that stage of the proceedings, he was almost as much
upset as Nance herself. He got up with a shamefaced--

"Aw, Tom, boy, that was not good of you," and made for his hat, while
Tom sat with a broad grin at the result of his delicate diplomacy, and
Gard's great regret was that it was not possible for him to take the
hulking fellow by the neck and bundle him out of doors.

Old Tom made some sharp remark to his son, who replied in kind; Mrs.
Hamon sat quietly aloof, as she always did when Tom and his father got
to words, and Bernel made play with his supper, as though such matters
were of too common occurrence to call for any special attention on his
part.

Then Nance's face framed in a black sun-bonnet gleamed in at the outer
door.

"Come along, Bern, and we'll go and tell the Seigneur where his white
horse is," and she disappeared, and Bernel, having polished off
everything within reach, got up and followed her.

"Will you please to take a look at the mines to-night?" asked old Tom of