"So I am; so I am," said Adam.
"And you are poor as well."
"That's true, Thurstan; that's true, though your brother forgets it."
"So you should not hold your head too high."
"What! Are you on her side, also? Asher, Thurstan, Ross, you are my sons—would you see me turned out of the house?"
The three men hung their heads. "What mother says he must agree to," muttered Asher.
"But I gave you all I had," said Adam. "If I am old I am your father, and if I am poor you know best who made me so."
"We are poor, too, sir; we have nothing, and we do not forget who is to blame for it," Thurstan growled.
"You gave everything away from us," grumbled Ross; "and, because your bargain is a rue bargain, you want us now to stand aback of you."
And Stean, and Jacob, and John coming in at that moment, Jacob said, very slyly, with something like a sneer—