Go thee home and talk
reasonably to thy son. He's gotten a will o' his own--that's a way
wi' t' Hallams--and he'll tak' it. Mak' up thy mind to that."
"But children ought to obey their fathers."
"Ought hesn't been t' fashion since iver I remember; and t' young
people o' these days hev crossed out Fifth Commandment--happen that's
t' reason there is so few men blessed wi' the green old age that I
asked for wi' the keeping o' it."
The squire pondered this advice all day, keeping apart from his family,
and really suffering very keenly. But toward evening he sent for his
son. As Antony entered his room he looked at him with a more conscious
and critical regard than he had ever done before. He was forced to
admit that he was different from his ancestors, though inheriting their
physical peculiarities. They were mostly splendid animals, with faces
radiant with courage and high spirits and high health. Antony's face
was clearer and more refined, more complex, more suggestive. His form,
equally tall, was slighter, not hampered with superfluous flesh, not
so aggressively erect. One felt that the older Hallams would have
walked straight up to the object of their ambition and demanded it, or,
if necessary, fought for it. One was equally sure that Antony had the
ability to stoop, to bow, to slide past obstacles, to attain his object
by the pleasantest road possible.
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