'
But Stephen could not believe that good, gentle Miss Anne found it as
hard to be a Christian as he did. Everything seemed against him at the
works. The short indulgence from hard words and hard blows granted him
after his father's death was followed by what appeared to be a very
tempest of oppression. It was very soon understood that the master had
a private grudge against the boy; and though the workpeople were ground
down and wronged in a hundred ways by him, so as to fill them with hatred
and revenge, they were not the less willing to take advantage of his
spite against Stephen. His work underground, which had always been
distasteful to him compared with a shepherd's life on the hills, was now
made more toilsome and dangerous than ever, while Black Thompson followed
him everywhere and all day long with oaths and blows. Stephen's evident
superiority over the other boys was of course very much against him; for
he had never been much associated with them, as his distant home had
separated him from them excepting during the busy hours of labour. Now,
when, through his own self-satisfaction and Tim's loud praises, his
accomplishments became known, it is no wonder that a storm of envy and
jealousy raged round him; for not only the boys themselves, but their
fathers also, felt affronted at his wonderful scholarship.
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