There they solemnly concocted plans for brother Tom's discomfiture, and
thither they retreated after defeat or victory, while he hunted high
and low for them and never could make out where they had got to.
Then Tom went off to sea, and life, for those at home, became a joy
without a flaw--except the thought that he would sometime come
back--unless he got drowned.
When he returned he was past the boyish bullying and teasing stage, and
his stunts and twists developed themselves along other lines. Moreover,
sailor-fashion, he wore a knife in a sheath at the back of his belt.
He found Nance a tall slim girl of sixteen, her childish prettiness just
beginning to fashion itself into the strength and comeliness of form and
feature which distinguished her later on.
He swore, with strange oaths, that she was the prettiest bit of goods
he'd set eyes on since he left home, and he'd seen a many. And he
wondered to himself if this could really be the Nance he used to hate
and persecute.
But Nance detested him and all his ways as of old.
CHAPTER III
HOW THE NEW MINE CAPTAIN CAME
Tom Hamon and Peter Mauger seated themselves on a rock within a few feet
of the narrow slit out of which Nance and Bernel had been looking.
Pages:
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40