"My dear young lady--" the judge bowed, then he advanced toward
her with the solemnity of carriage and countenance he deemed
suitable to the occasion, and her extended hand was engulfed
between his two plump palms. He rolled his eyes heavenward.
"It's the Lord's to deal with us as His own inscrutable wisdom
dictates," he murmured with pious resignation. "We are all
poorer, ma'am, that he has died--just as we were richer while he
lived!" The rich cadence of the judge's speech fell sonorously
on the silence, and that look of horror which had never quite
left Betty's eyes since they saw Charley Norton fall, rose out of
their clear depths again. The judge, instantly stricken with a
sense of the inadequacy of his words, doubled on his spiritual
tracks. "In a round-about way, ma'am, we're bound to believe in
the omnipresence of Providence--we must think it--though a body
might be disposed to hold that west Tennessee had got out of the
line of divine supervision recently. Let me lead you to a chair,
ma'am!"
Hannibal had slipped to Betty's side and placed his hand in hers.
The judge regarded the pair with great benevolence of expression.
"He would come, and I hadn't the heart to forbid it. If I can be
of any service to you, ma'am, either in the capacity of a
friend--or professionally--I trust you will not hesitate to
command me--" The judge backed toward the door.
"Did you walk out, Judge Price?" asked Betty kindly.
"Nothing more than a healthful exercise--but we will not detain
you, ma'am; the pleasure of seeing you is something we had not
reckoned on!" The judge's speech was thick and unctuous with
good feeling.
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