THREE:"How have I desired to behold the prophet��who hath risen up to be the champion of the oppressed. My breast burned within me when I saw the poor man trampled on. I sheltered a bondman��I was vexed with the law��stripped of my all��beggared, and nothing left me but bondage or a jail!��I am weary of the hard hand that presses down the poor! Holy father, let me join the good cause."
THREE:Reuben never lost a chance of baiting him, he jibed at his squeamishness and fine manners, at his polite way of eating and the trouble he took to clean his nails; he despised him all the more for occasionally getting the better of him, verbally at any rate, in these encounters. One night at supper Reuben, having actually succeeded in finding this sneering son at fault, abused him roundly for the shocking condition of the ewes' fleeces. Richard[Pg 228] had the bad sense to quote Shakespeare, whereat Reuben told him that if he could not speak English he could leave the room. Richard replied that he would be very pleased to do so, as certain people's table-manners made supper rather an ordeal. Reuben helped him out with a kick most vulgarly placed.
THREE:"Naun," said Reuben; "I'm waiting.""Oh, Joe, he's seen us."
THREE:"It ought to��Odiam's their home jest as it's mine."
THREE: