Of course if your father chooses to support you in such goings on I can say nothing.

Neither he nor you seem to remember how trying such things as these are to any one with a broken constitution like mine." Captain Sankey, knowing from experience how useless it was to attempt to argue with his wife when she was in this mood, continued to eat his meal placidly.

Ned seized his mug of milk and water, and took an impatient drink of it.
"Is there anything I had better do for my face ?" he asked his father presently.
"I don't think anything you can do, Ned, will make you presentable for the next few days.

I believe that a raw beefsteak is the best thing to put on your eye, but is not such a thing in the house, and if there was, I don't think that I should be justified in wasting it for such a purpose.

I should say the next best thing would be to keep a cloth soaked in cold water on your face; that will probably take down the swelling to some extent." After tea Ned repaired to the kitchen, where Abijah, with much scolding and some commiseration, applied a wet cloth to his face, and fastened a handkerchief over it to keep it in its place.