"And at the coal, by Jove!" he exclaimed, suddenly realizing the
situation, and now wide awake.
He started up, and presently was creeping down the stairs to the kitchen.
Mrs. Farrell heard him open the cellar door with the least possible
creak. She knew he was on the steps which led below, but he made no
further sound. She had no other clue to his movements, and could only
distinguish the rumble of the coal. She waited, expecting momentarily
that it would cease, dreading the altercation which would follow, and
regretting she had aroused her son.
"He is quick-tempered," she soliloquized. "What if words should lead to
blows,--if he should strike the old man! How foolish I was to let him go
alone!"
The suspense was ominous. What was the boy going to do? Why all this
delay? Why did he not promptly confront the fellow and order him to be
gone? In reality, only a few minutes had elapsed since she first heard
the noise, but it seemed a quarter of an hour even since he left her.
Should she go down herself, or call out to him? While she hesitated
Bernard suddenly reappeared.
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