There was much damp weather, and Austin was unable to work much in the woods. So every day was made dark with the taunts and threats of his father. Sometimes it seemed to him that he could not stand it another day. He longed to get away, to be forever from the presence of his father, but he could not leave the children. What would become of them if he did? Very well he knew that in less than six months they would be scattered here and yonder, some of them to be abused and mistreated.
His father’s insulting manner was bearing fruit in the children, and they were no longer submissive. It seemed to Austin that he had failed entirely.
CHAPTER 7. — THE RUNAWAY
It had now rained steadily for a week, and the mud and drip everywhere made all outdoors unpleasant. But in the Hill home the indoors was even more disagreeable. The new home was near the engines. Mr. Hill was in the house much of the time, and he was never pleasant among his children. Austin could not work in the woods because of the rain, and his presence irritated his father all the time. They were never in the house together but what something unpleasant was said between them, and Austin’s spirit was becoming worn with the constant rasping. He thought he could not endure it much longer, and since his presence made the home so filled with contention he doubted whether he was doing right to stay.
“Austin, how much longer are you going to lie around this house? You have not done a day’s work in weeks. I can’t stand your idleness much longer. Why can you not be like your brothers?” growled Mr. Hill one morning a day or two after Thanksgiving.
Austin said nothing, for he had exhausted all his arguments; but at that instant a determination formed itself in his mind to put a stop to the whole affair. When his father had gone to the engine-room he went to the attic and brought down his best suit of clothes and, coming into the kitchen, prepared to brush and press them. When he put the irons on the stove, Amy noticed what he was about to do.
“You can’t press those clothes this morning, for I am going to use the irons,” she said in a fretful voice.
“I shall have to use them, Amy, but it will not take long.”