Their evil report Mary did not carry to her father. She scorned
to trouble his lofty nature with her small annoyances; neither
could they long keep down the wellspring of her own peace, which,
deeper than anger could reach, soon began to rise again fresh in
her spirit, fed from that water of life which underlies all care.
In a few moments it had cooled her cheek, stilled her heart, and
washed the wounds of offense.
CHAPTER VI.
TOM HELMER.
When Tom Helmer's father died, his mother, who had never been
able to manage him, sent him to school to get rid of him,
lamented his absence till he returned, then writhed and fretted
under his presence until again he went. Never thereafter did
those two, mother and son, meet, whether from a separation of
months or of hours, without at once tumbling into an obstinate
difference. When the youth was at home, their sparring, to call
it by a mild name, went on from morning to night, and sometimes
almost from night to morning. Primarily, of course, the fault lay
with the mother; and things would have gone far worse, had not
the youth, along with the self-will of his mother, inherited his
father's good nature. At school he was a great favorite, and
mostly had his own way, both with boys and masters, for, although
a fool, he was a pleasant fool, clever, fond of popularity, and
complaisant with everybody--except always his mother, the merest
word from whom would at once rouse all the rebel in his blood.
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