"You are nothing better, Stephen Palmer!" returned his step-mother, now thoroughly aroused.
"Take care what you say, Mrs. Palmer!" said Stephen, advancing a step toward her. "I'm a bad man when I get mad."
"You never said a truer word," said Mrs. Palmer, more courageous in defense of Grace than she would have been for herself.
"Look here! You just drop that," said Stephen, doggedly, "or I may do you harm."
"That would not be surprising," retorted the widow, undaunted. "A man who will rob a little girl won't hesitate to strike a woman."
The intoxicated young man was thoroughly incensed by his step-mother's sarcasm, and forgot the little manliness he ever possessed.
"If you think so, I'll make your words come true," he said, savagely, and advanced toward Mrs. Palmer with uplifted arm.
Mrs. Palmer turned pale, and Grace uttered a shriek of terror.
"Don't strike my mother, you bad man!" she called out.
This diverted the current of Stephen's wrath, and he turned upon the little girl.