Both had tried to injure him; both had succeeded.

He wished them no harm: he didn't want to choke or drown them, as he had felt like doing at noon, but clearly he didn't want to pray for them.

He had arisen from his knees, and was sitting on the edge of the box which was his table and chair, with a very troubled face.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he could not pray for those boys just then.

At last he thought he had found a way out of the difficulty.
He said to himself that he was very tired, almost sick; he would just repeat the Lord's Prayer and go to bed.