'Sir,' said Stephen firmly, but without any insolence of manner, 'I want
to know who has turned us out of our own house. Is it the lord of the
manor, or you?'

'I've bought the place for myself,' answered the master, bringing his
hand down with a heavy blow upon the table before him, as if he would
like to knock Stephen down with the same force.

'There's nobody to sell it but me,' said the boy.

'You think so, my lad, do you? Why, if it were your own, you would have
no power over it till you are one-and-twenty. But the place was your
grandfather's, and he has sold it to me for £15. When your grandfather
returned from transportation his wife's hut became his; and his right to
it does not go over to anybody else till he is dead. It never belonged to
your father; and you can have no right to it. If you want to see the deed
of purchase, it is safe here, witnessed by my brother Thomas and Jones
the gamekeeper, and your grandfather's mark put to it. I would show it to
you; but I reckon, with all your learning, you would not make much out of
it.'

'Sir,' said Stephen, trembling, 'grandfather is quite simple and dark. He
couldn't understand that you were buying the place of him. Besides, he's
never had the money?'

'What do you mean, you young scoundrel?' cried the master. 'I gave it
into his own hands, and made him put it into his waistcoat pocket for
safety. Simple is he, and dark? He could attend his son's funeral four
miles off only a few months ago; and he can understand my niece Anne's