Too Dearly Bought by Agnes Giberne

SARAH could not shake off the thought of something happening to John. All the next day, and the next, she lived in fear, often hard to control. Those evenings he came home safely untouched. He did not tell Sarah how the men on strike glowered at him; how he was pursued on his way by the contemptuous groan of "Blackleg! !"

Many a man would sooner face a knock-down blow than that sound of scorn; but John was not made of yielding stuff. He did not tell Sarah all this, for there was no need to add to her anxiety.