He tried to answer, but was unable to speak.

If he had been a slave and had failed to satisfy his master, the latter might have tied him up somewhere and thrashed him.

Hunter could not do that; he could only take his food away.

Old Jack was frightened--it was not only HIS food that might be taken away.

At last, with a great effort, for the words seemed to stick in his throat, he said: 'I must clean the work down, sir, before I go on painting.' 'I'm not talking about what you're doing, but the time it takes you to do it!' shouted Hunter.