upon him after he had left the workshop.
He would then change his clothes, wash and make himself tidy, so that
he still kept that bright, clear-colored look, which made so striking a
contrast with his father's dark and grimy aspect. Precisely this
peculiarity seemed to give the smith pleasure, and without his
realizing it, his sympathy for Cain grew; perhaps it also grew from the
consciousness that he himself had put upon the innocent child a mark of
shame which probably he would never be able to shake off. But one day,
when Stephen Fausch himself became aware that a feeling for Cain began
to stir within him, such as he had never known since the days when he
used to take long, swift walks for Maria's sake, he laughed, in the
midst of his work, a loud, harsh laugh, as the thought came over him.
His laughter was at his own folly: "Fool, it isn't possible. Not a drop
of your blood is in the boy's veins. They slipped him into your nest."
On this day he was unusually surly and impatient with Cain; his face
often wore an expression almost of hatred, when he looked at the lad.
But this hatred was not real. He said to himself: "It is against nature
that you should be fond of the boy! You ought to have sent him out of
the house, the child of shame!" Then again the other power would
struggle with this one, the thought: "Is it the boy's fault? You have
branded him, and he didn't deserve it!" And his affection for Cain was
there, no matter how he tried to argue it down. The inner conflict,
that Stephen Fausch carried about with him, was increasing.

And withal time still came and went. One year followed the others and
another followed that. Fausch knew as well as anybody else that people
left Cain no peace. The boy had gone through the secondary school at
Waltheim, and was now learning the blacksmith's trade with his father.
Thus he was free from the jeers and teasing of his schoolmates, but yet
the smith saw that the disgrace clung to him. Stephen noticed that many
of his customers glanced at each other, when Cain was present or was
mentioned, he saw the looks that followed the boy, if they appeared
together anywhere; he saw how people nudged each other, and heard how
one would say: "His name is Cain. Isn't that a foolish name for a man?"
and then the other: "Do you know why the boy was named Cain?" Stephen
Fausch saw that the disgrace clung to him, and his standing up for the
boy now did no good, whether he threatened or even str