16 DOGGED JACK.

and tell him how deeply he loved him, and how full
he was of good resolutions for the future, but just at
such times, unluckily, his father, knowing of course
nothing that was going on in his boy's heart, would
say something harsh to him, and all his good inten-
tions would straightway freeze up; and instead of the
yearning, childish love, a fierce pride and sense of
injustice would burn in his heart, making him hide
all softer feelings in his own breast, lest they should
even be guessed at.
 Many a time, too, had his father longed to take the
offender to his breast, for in truth he loved him fully
as much as his little daughter, and Jack's coldness
had often cut him to the heart-but at such times a
defiant, obstinate look would cross the boy's face,
which again roused up all his father's anger against
him.
 The only subject on which these two agreed was
in their mutual love for Polly. She was a funny,
little, old-fashioned creature, full of quaint, droll
ways of acting and thinking, and ruled them both as
a queen might her subjects.
 Polly could scarcely tell which she loved most
herself. In her acute childish way she saw the
estrangement growing up gradually between these
loved ones, and in her own quaint fashion, she tried