"And what about your duty to me, and to your mother and to your sisters? Was it your 'duty' to bring disgrace on all of us?"
Alick dropped his head.
"You shan't do that, though, if I can help it. Go away and wash your dirty face and get something on your stomach. You're going back to Castletown in the morning."
"I won't go back to school, Sir," said Alick.
"Won't you, though? We'll see about that. I'll take you back."
"Then I'll run away again, Sir."
"Where to, you jackass? Not to this house, I promise you."
"I'll get a ship and go to sea, Sir."
"Then get a ship and go to sea, and to hell, too, if you want to. You fool! You damned blockhead!"
After the Speaker had swept the boy from the room, his mother was crying. "Only eighteen years for harvest," she was saying, as if trying to excuse him. And then, as if seeking to fix the blame elsewhere, she added,