"Well, dunderhead, d'ye hear me speaking?"
"Yes, I hear you," responded Stephen, looking at him with a half-frightened, half-defiant expression.
"Then why don't you answer?" he inquired with an oath. He was getting angry. "If you cheek me, 'twill be the worse for you, I can tell you."
"I don't want to cheek you," said Stephen; "but I don't see as my affairs is your business, any more than your affairs is my business."
Simon could hardly believe his ears as he listened to this answer. This little shrimp to defy him like that!
But his anger soon outweighed his amazement.
He seized Stephen by the collar, saying, as he gave him a shake,—
"Answer my questions this instant, or—"
His gestures completed the sentence.
Stephen turned very white, but he replied firmly,—