"Look here, widow," said Stephen, his brow darkening, "I ain't going to be trifled with or bluffed off; not this time. When down here before I wasn't quite myself, and that young puppy, Paul, thought it safe to bully me. Things are different now. I am perfectly sober, and I know what I'm about. So I tell you once more I want that money, and I advise you to get it for me, or else give me as much out of your own pocket."
"Surely you are not in earnest, Stephen Palmer. You won't persist in this unmanly demand?"
"Then you don't know me. Paul is not here to defend you now, and I advise you not to make me angry."
Stephen rose from his seat, and advanced toward his step-mother with an ugly look on his mean, evil-looking face.
Mrs. Palmer started back, and uttered just one word: "Paul!"
At the call, Paul, who had found it difficult to restrain himself from rushing into the room sooner, sprang through the door, and, his young face flaming with just indignation, confronted his step-brother.
CHAPTER XVII.
PAUL DEFENDS HIS MOTHER.
To say that Stephen was astonished hardly expresses the truth.