His path was too far off for him to hear the words that were poured forth in such torrents of passion.

The boy's strong sentiment prompted him to run and collar the man; his judgment made him doubt whether it was a good thing to interfere between man and wife; a certain latent cowardice in his heart made him afraid to venture nearer.

The sum of his emotions caused him to stop, go on a few paces, and stop to look and listen again, his heart full of concern.

In this way he was drawing further away, when he saw the farmer step nearer his wife and menace her with the whip; in an instant more he had struck her, and Caius had run about twenty feet forward to interfere, and halted again, because he was afraid to approach so angry and powerful a man.
Caius saw the woman clearly now, and how she received this attack.

She stood quite still at her full stature, ceasing to speak or to gesticulate, folded her arms and looked at her husband.