Mr.Mulready was passing through the hall--for his gig was waiting at the door to take him back to the mill, where some fitters would be at work till late, repairing the damages to the machine--when he had caught Ned's words, which were spoken at the top of his voice.
The smoldering anger of months burst at once into a flame heightened by the ill humor which the day's events had caused, and he burst into the room and almost felled Ned to the ground with his swinging blow.
Recovering himself, Ned flew at him, but the boy was no match for the man, and Mr.Mulready's passion was as fierce as his own; seizing his throat with his left hand and forcing him back into a corner of the room, his stepfather struck him again and again with all his force with his right.
Charlie had run at once from the room to fetch his mother, and it was scarcely a minute after the commencement of the outbreak that she rushed into the room, and with a scream threw her arms round her husband.
"The young scoundrel!" Mr.Mulready exclaimed, panting, as he released his hold of Ned; "he has been wanting a lesson for a long time, and I have given him one at last.

He called me Foxey, the young villain, and said I was a double faced snarling brute; let him say so again and I will knock his head off." But Ned just at present was not in a condition to repeat his words; breathless and half stunned he leaned in the corner, his breath came in gasps, his face was as pale as death, his cheek was cut, there were red marks on the forehead which would speedily become black, and the blood was flowing from a cut on his lip, his eyes had a dazed and half stupid look.
"Oh! William!" Mrs.Mulready said as she looked at her son, "how could you hurt him so!" "Hurt him, the young reptile!" Mr.Mulready said savagely.

"I meant to hurt him.

I will hurt him more next time." Mrs.Mulready paid no attention to his words, but went up to Ned.
"Ned, my boy," she said tenderly, "what is it?
Don't look like that, Ned; speak to me." His mother's voice seemed to rouse Ned into consciousness.

He drew a long breath, then slowly passed his hand across his eyes, and lips, and mouth.