The three men hung their heads. "What mother says he must agree to," muttered Asher.
"But I gave you all I had," said Adam. "If I am old I am your father, and if I am poor you know best who made me so."
"We are poor, too, sir; we have nothing, and we do not forget who is to blame for it," Thurstan growled.
"You gave everything away from us," grumbled Ross; "and, because your bargain is a rue bargain, you want us now to stand aback of you."
And Stean, and Jacob, and John coming in at that moment, Jacob said, very slyly, with something like a sneer—
"Ah, yes, and who took the side of a stranger against his own children? What of your good Michael Sunlocks now, sir? Is he longing for you? Or have you never had the scribe of a line from him since he turned his back on you, four years ago?"
