"Well, he's leaving school now," he said more gently. "He'll settle down once he's got his nose to the grindstone."
Later, at the meeting of the Bowling Green Committee, in the Moot, the schoolmaster reported Mrs. Caspar's saying to Mr. Trupp.
"She's a hard un," he commented.
"She's need to be," growled the other.
"What's that, Doctor?" asked Mr. Pigott.
"If she let go of him, he'd be dead in a month," mumbled Mr. Trupp.
"Mr. Caspar would?"
The Doctor looked at the grey church-tower bluff against the sky.
"But she won't let go," he added. "She's got her qualities."
"She has," said Mr. Pigott, treading the green. "She's a diamond—as hard, as keen."