Page:Between Two Loves.djvu/156

Rh those public religous [sic] duties which had once been such a delight to him. Ben watched the mill with a vigilant eye, but in spite of every effort the number of looms at work gradually decreased. Jonathan could not bear to see it, and he seldom went through the weaving-sheds.

Even the sympathy of his hands, manifesting itself in a subdued manner, or by a more marked respect, hurt him. Besides, Sarah's face was a reproach he could not meet. In a moment's passion he had taken his daughter home and espoused her quarrel, and he quickly understood that by the act he had put another barrier between Sarah and himself. In all his subsequent proceedings he had also sacrificed her to the evil passions which were eating his own heart and substance away. As time went on he avoided her altogether. He had a dim kind of perception that Steve was doing very badly, but he did not feel as if he had either the right or the inclination to interfere again in his affairs. One day Ben Holden began to speak of him, and he stopped the subject with a few curt words.

"Let Steve Benson alone, I say. When he works, pay him. When he's idle, dock him.