‘An’ where ha’ ye been, Nat, all this while?’ she asked, ‘a-leavin’ of Annie, as might ha’ wanted ye--I doubt ye’ve not worked on the allotment ground, or done any good wi’ yoursel’ through all the day! There isn’t much use in ye when ye’re out o’ work, ye go off an’ play, an’ there’s an end of all!’ ‘Why, mother, I haven’t played up till noon to-day,’ said Nat, ‘and I’m goin’ at the hay to-morrow, ye know I am; there isn’t a lad in all the village as doesn’t like to have a bit o’ game sometimes. I’ve been lookin’ at them to-night,’ and his eyes sparkled; ‘I had a fine sight of ’em, though they didn’t know I was near.’ ‘Ye’ve been an’ looked at ’em,’ cried Jenny, rising, with a wrath most unusual glowing in her face; ‘ye’ve been an’ took part in all their wicked ways as bring shame on the father, an’ me, an’ all on us! I didn’t think it of thee, Nat, not e’en o’ thee; ye’re a wicked boy, an’ I’ll not forget thy work.’ ‘I told ye so, mother,’ cried Annie from her cushions; ‘I told ye he wouldn’t care, and ’ud think it fun. Ye’ll believe me, perhaps, next time when I speak of him, though ye always take his part whatever comes to us.’ ‘I did but hide by the stone-pit,’ muttered Nat, dismayed at the storms that were rushing on his head; ‘there wasn’t an eye of ’em all as saw me, but of course ye find fault wi’ me, ye always do.’ He pulled out a chair, and threw himself down upon it, an expression of sullen resistance on his face, thrusting out his legs in a most determined manner, and screwing his mouth as if he were whistling silently. The eyes of his mother and sister rested on him meanwhile, with the silent opposition that is most hard to bear. ‘I want some tea,’ muttered Nat, with his hands in his pockets, resolved to make the best of his position. ‘The things is locked up,’ his mother replied, ‘and I can’t be troubled to get ’em out for ye. I don’t care to give ye tea when ye do such tricks as them.’ ‘All right, I’m not hungry,’ the boy said, with a gulp, as if he were exercising some control upon himself; he had seen, no doubt, the tears in his mother’s eyes, and did not wish to continue the dispute. But Jenny received the remark as an expression of indifference, and her unwonted anger could no longer be restrained.