hat, as he expressed it, "it
fairly haggled him." Weakness and delicacy were conditions entirely
unknown to him and all his other relations, and might, he thought, be
avoided by everyone except very old people and women; so Frank must be
hardened, and taught not to shirk his work.

The hardening process went on for some time, but not with a very
satisfactory result, for added to his weakness the boy now showed an
increasing terror of his father. He shrank from the hard words or the
uplifted hand with an evident fear, which only strengthened Mr
Darvell's anger, for it mortified him still more to find his lad a
coward as well as a bungler over his work.

Frank, on his side, found his life almost intolerable just now, and all
his trembling efforts "to work like a man" seemed utterly useless, for
he was crippled by fear as well as weakness. He could not take things
like the other Green Highland lads of his age, who were tough of nerve
and sinew, and thought nothing of cuffs on the head and abuse. It was
all dreadful to him, and he suffered as much in apprehension as in the
actual punishment when it came. Mingled with it all was a hot sense of
injustice, for he tried to do his best, and yet was always in disgrace
and despair. Where was the use of having been such a good "scholard?"
That seemed wasted now, for Frank's poor little brain felt so muddled
after a day's field-work, and he was altogether so spent with utter
weariness, that the only thing to do was to tumble into bed, and books
were out of the question. He was being "hardened," as his father called
it, but not in a desirable way; for while his body remained slender and
weak as ever, his mind became daily more stupid and unintelligent.

Frank's only refuge in these hard times was his mother's love. That
never failed him, for the very incapacity that so excited the wrath of
his father only drew him more closely to Mrs Darvell, and made her
watchful to shield him, if possible, from harsh treatment. She was
always ready to do battle for him, and her strong big husband quailed
before the small determined mother when she had her boy's cause in hand.
For Mrs Darvell was gifted with a range of expression and a freedom of
speech which had been denied to her "man," and he had learned to dread
the times when the missus was put out, as occasions when he stood
defenceless before that deadly weapon--the tongue. He was dreading it
now, although he sat so quietly smokin