George laughed.
"A very fitting name, I think; he has felt her claws often enough. Well, what then?"
"Then she boxed his ears—it was at supper—and he flew into a rage, and he would not listen to me, but tore out of the room, out of the house, and has never come back. Oh, George, what if there should be two to wait and watch for, instead of one! Jack! Jack! How could he leave me?"
"He can't have gone far; and, as to being out all night, why, that won't hurt him. The young rascal, to give you all this trouble! Yes, I'll go and hunt for him; and if I catch him, won't I give it to him!"
"No, George; no. Remember his provocation. Remember he has had no father, only a mother like me to control him."
"Only a mother like you! I should like to know where a better could be found! I am sorry for the boy that he has had to live with a cross-grained old maid, but for your sake he ought to have put up with it."
"She means well. She took us in for my father's sake, and she has kept me and the boy from starving."
"You have earned your living; you have worked well for her, and she knows it. But I will go and hunt for Master Jack. See! I will leave my basket of tools here as an assurance that I am coming back. You go and lie down, and I'll have the young master back before an hour is over. Come, go indoors; you look ready to drop."
But Patience shook her head.
"I am used to waiting and watching," she said again; "it's nothing new."