Then he found his tongue, and opened such a
tirade of vile words that the poor boy shrank from him in terror. He
was in mortal fear lest the man should lay hands on him and commit
some crime, so intense was his rage, but Hiram Tinch seemed to know
how far to go, and after five minutes of cursing and swearing he took
the plough in his own hands, and guided it through the earth. "Now
take it," he growled at Archie, when he had gone a furrow's length,
"and see ef ye can do better this time. Remember, not a bite of dinner
do ye get until this field is ploughed."
Poor Archie was weak from fright, but there was nothing to do but to
obey. He looked at the vast field before him, and made up his mind
that he would get nothing to eat until night, anyhow, for it was
already nearly noon. He felt very much like bursting into tears, but
he was too proud to give way to his feelings. But he couldn't help
wishing that he were at home, playing with the members of the Hut
Club. "Those boys are much better off than I am," he said, over and
over, "though they have made no effort to improve themselves." After a
time, however, his ambition returned, and as he looked ahead into the
future, and remembered the wonderful things he was going to
accomplish, he felt more like working.
He finished the field at five o'clock in the afternoon, and was almost
fainting from hunger and from the hard work.
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