“Why, I couldn’t ha’ done a bit o’ forging like that when I’d been at it fower year,” he said in his high-pitched voice.
“But my uncles have often shown me how,” I said.
“What! Can they forge?” he said, staring very hard at me.
“Oh, yes, as well as you can!”
He blew hard at the kitten and then shook his head in a dissatisfied way, after which it seemed as if I had offended him, for he seized his hammer and pincers and began working away very hard, finishing a couple of the steel bill-hooks before he spoke again.
“Which on ’em ’vented this here contrapshion?” he said, pointing to an iron bar, by touching which he could direct a blast of air into his fire without having the need of a man or boy to blow.
“Uncle John,” I said.
“What! Him wi’ the biggest head?”
I nodded.
“Yes; he said that with the water-wheel going it was easy to contrive a way to blow the fires.”