thievin'. Old Bob 'lowed ter them men,
hangin' round the mill, ez he air the biggest thief on the mounting!"

The strong man trembled. His blood rushed tumultuously to his head, then
seemed to ebb swiftly away. That this should be said of him to the
loafers at the mill! These constituted his little world. And he valued
his character as only an honest man can. He was amazed at the boldness
of the lie. It had been openly spoken in the presence of his son. One
might have thought the boy would come directly to him. But there he sat,
glibly retailing it to his small comrades! It seemed all so strange
that Stephen Ryder fancied there was surely some mistake. In the next
moment, however, he was convinced that they had been talking of him, and
of no one else.

"I tole old Bob ez how I thought they oughtn't ter be so hard on him, ez
he warn't thar to speak for hisself."

All three boys giggled weakly, as if this were witty.

"But old Bob 'lowed ez ennybody mought know him by his name. An' then he
told me that old sayin':--

'Stephen, Stephen, so deceivin',
That old Satan can't believe him!'"

Here Ben Gryce broke in, begging the others to go home, and come to
"borry" the hammer next night. Ab agreed to the latter proposition, but
still sat on the log and talked. "Old Bob say," he remarked cheerfully,
"that when he do git 'em, he shakes 'em--shakes the life out'n 'em!"

This was inexplicable. Stephen Ryder pondered vainly on it for an
instant. But the oft-reiterated formula, "Old Bob say," caught his
ears, and he was absorbed anew in Ab's discourse.

"Old Bob say ez my mother air one of the best women in this world. But
she air so gin ter humoring every critter a-nigh her, an' tends ter 'em
so much, an' feeds 'em so high an' hearty, ez they jes' gits good fur
nothin' in this world. That's how kem she air eat out'n house an' home
now. Old Bob say ez how he air the hongriest critter! Say he jes'
despise ter see him comin' round of meal times. Old Bob say ef he hev
got enny good lef' in him, my mother will kill it out yit with
kindness."

The blacksmith felt, as he turned back into the shop and roused the
sleepy-headed striker, that within the hour all the world had changed
for him. These coarse taunts were enough to show in what estimation he
was held. And he had fancied himself, in countrified phrase, "respected
by all," and had been proud of his standing.

So the bellows began to sigh and pant once more, and kept