His chest heaved shortly and heavily.
The village doctor had told is mother that he had heart-disease, which might prove fatal, although there was a chance of his outgrowing it, and Deborah had set her face against that.
Ephraim's face, in spite of its sickly hue, had a perfect healthiness and naturalness of expression, which insensibly gave confidence to his friends, although it aroused their irritation.

A spirit of boyish rebellion and importance looked out of Ephraim's black eyes; his mouth was demure with mischief, his gawky figure perpetually uneasy and twisting, as if to find entrance into small forbidden places.
There was something in Ephraim's face, when she looked suddenly at him, which continually led his mother to infer that he had been transgressing.

"What have you been doin', Ephraim ?" she would call out, sharply, many a time, with no just grounds for suspicion, and be utterly routed by Ephraim's innocent, wondering grin in response.
The boy was set about with restrictions which made his life miserable, but the labor of picking over plums for a cake was quite to his taste.

He dearly loved plums, although they were especially prohibited.

He rolled one quietly under his tongue, and watched Rebecca with sharp eyes.