Jim Thorne returned with a basket of swamp eels and loaches. He was soaking wet, and the bamboo basket was brimming with his catch. The family would have enough dried loaches to last until winter.
When he saw the furious Phoenix Golding and her son, he sneered and yelled at Phoenix, "Your son has a mother but no upbringing! I went ahead and taught him a lesson for you. No need to thank me!"
Phoenix Golding's face turned ugly. Losing all reason, she shrieked, "My son is not for a little bastard like you to discipline!"
She tried to charge over and hit Jim Thorne, but Phoebe Huxley grabbed her by the hair and easily subdued her.
"And my son is *certainly* not for a promiscuous vixen like you to lecture!"
