pride was broken.

Imperfectly he heard a young voice passionately urging for vengeance,
retribution, redress, asking after the law of the land against a brutal
custom carried to unaccustomed extreme.

Redress! His eyes he shut when his lips bade the girl believe that he had
no desire to invoke any earthly powers to avenge his wrongs. On his hand
her tears fell like rain; she bowed her head at his knees, with wonder
within at the christian saint of so perfect a heart. Back to bare steel
crept his hand, tear-wet.

But his fierce hate betrayed him. A gust of fever and madness lifted him
up, enraged at the body unready, the burnt right arm unready; his left
hand and the devil in him snatched out the knife, and drove it at the
planks on his level in one instant of exuberant capacity. In and out
again it went; he sobbed a great laugh for the cost and its sufficiency,
and with spent force fell back a-sweat. Swift in trod Lois, and he was
still, with the blade out of sight, not knowing that clean through the
inches of wood the bright blade had looked in a line of sunlight straight
to his mother's eye.

She was not gentle then, nor cared for his hurts; with quick mastery of
him while he cowered and winced in nerveless collapse, she discovered and
plucked away his naked paramour. Dumb-struck she stood in accomplished
dismay. Into the impotent wretch defiance entered; with insolent
assertion his eyes affronted hers; unmasked, from his face looked the
very truth of hatred and lust of blood, shameless at exposure.

Mother and son drew breath for battle.

'What name shall I call you by?' she cried. 'You have borne that name of
Christ all your life, and now do renounce His cross.'

'Diadyomenos' sang to him out of the past.

'Your face is the face of Cain already, not the face of my son, my dear
son given me by the mercy of God. It is like the curse of God!'

She fell on her knees and grasped him hard. Her prayers came upon him
like terrible strokes; heaviest to reach him were prayers to her God. He
would not answer nor say amen; his own one passionate prayer had been
unregarded, and he hardened his heart.

'I took you from the death of the sea, and loved you and cared for you as
more to me than the child of my body. And when with manhood and freewill
came trial by sorrow and pain--hard, oh! hard indeed--then I saw my
blessing in you and touched reward. My son, my son, the son that never
was, was brave and patient and long