Ephraim began to feel a little better; his heart did not beat quite so laboriously.
He did not say a word to his father about paring the apples.

Caleb went into the pantry and came back eating a slice of mince-pie.
"I found there was a pie cut, and I thought mother wouldn't mind if I took a leetle piece," he remarked, apologetically.

He would never have dared take the pie without permission had his wife been at home.
"She ain't goin' to be home till arter dinner-time, an' I began to feel kinder gone," added Caleb.

He stood by the fire, and munched the pie with a relish slightly lessened by remorse.

"Don't you want nothin'" he asked of Ephraim.