"
"Ay, Nellie, that's a' richt, but it's the Lord's will, an' we maun put
up wi' it."
At this juncture Mrs. Sinclair's patience would become exhausted, and
she would flare up, while the neighbor would suddenly break off the
discussion and go off home.
Her children were taught that it was a disgrace not to resent a wrong,
and Robert, though only a boy, was always sturdily standing up against
the things he considered wrong at the pit-head.
Robert dreamed and built his future castles. There was great work ahead
to do. He never mentioned his longings and visions to anyone, yet
Mysie's sweet, shy face was creeping into them always, and already he
was conscious of something in her that thrilled him. He was awkward, and
his speech did not come readily, in her presence. Whole days he dreamed,
only waking up to find it was "knocking-off" time. There was an hour's
break in the middle of the day, and then he wandered out on the moor.
Its silence soothed him, and he would lie and dream among the rough
yellow grass and the hard tough heather, bathing his soul in the
brooding quietness of it all.
He was now twelve years of age, and longing to get at work down the pit.
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