And when the little fellow showed his disappointment, Stead was even
surly in telling him "they wanted no upstarts."
It was a hard winter, and the frost was followed by a great deal of
wet. One of the sheep was swept away by the flood; three or four
lambs died; and Stead, for about the first time in his life, caught a
severe feverish cold in looking after the flock, and was laid by for
a day or two, very cross and fretful at everything going wrong
without him.
Poor little Ben was more railed at for those few days than ever he
had been before, and next he broke down and had to be nursed; and
then came Patience's turn. She was ill enough to frighten her
brothers; and Goody Grace, who came to see to her, finding how thin
her blanket was, and how long it was since she had had any food but
porridge, gave Steadfast a thorough good scolding, told him he would
be the death of a better sister than he deserved, and set before him
how only for his sake Patience might be living on the fat of the land
at the mill.
To all appearance, Stead listened sulkily enough, but by-and-by Goody
found a fowl killed and laid ready for use.
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