But he had taken at times to glowering at Tom, when his rudeness passed
bounds, in a way which made that young man at once uncomfortable and
angry, and at times provoked him to clownish attempts at reprisal.

Mrs. Hamon bore with the black sheep quietly, since nothing else was
possible to her, though her annoyance and distress were visible enough.

Old Tom was completely obsessed with his visions of wealth ever just
beyond the point of his pick. He toiled long hours in the damp
darknesses below seas, with the sounds of crashing waves and rolling
boulders close above him, and at times threateningly audible through the
stratum of rocks between; and when he did appear at meals he was too
weary to trouble about anything beyond the immediate satisfaction of his
needs. Besides, young Tom had long since proved his strength equal to
his father's, and remonstrance or rebuke would have produced no effect.

As to Bernel, he was only a boy as yet, but he was Nance's boy and all
she would have wished him.

In time he would grow up and be a match for Tom, and meanwhile she would
see to it that he grew up as different from Tom in every respect as it
was possible for a boy to be.




CHAPTER VI

HOW GRANNIE SCHEMED SCHEMES