"But you always have enough to eat, dear?" she questioned
anxiously. Hannibal promptly reassured her on this point. "You
wouldn't let me think anything that was not true, Hannibal--you
are quite sure you have never been hungry?"
"Never, Miss Betty; honest!"
Betty gave a sigh of relief. She had been reproaching herself
for her neglect of the child; she had meant to do so much for him
and had done nothing! Now it was too late for her personally to
interest herself in his behalf, yet before she left for the East
she would provide for him. If she had felt it was possible to
trust the judge she would have made him her agent, but even in
his best aspect he seemed a dubious dependence. Tom, for quite
different reasons, was equally out of the question. She thought
of Mr. Mahaffy.
"What kind of a man is Mr. Mahaffy, Hannibal?"
"He's an awful nice man, Miss Eetty, only he never lets on; a
body's got to find it out for his own self--he ain't like the
judge."
"Does he--drink, too, Hannibal?" questioned Betty.
"Oh, yes; when he can get the licker, he does." It was evident
that Hannibal was cheerfully tolerant of this weakness on the
part of the austere Mahaffy. By this time Betty was ready to
weep over the child, with his knowledge of shabby vice, and his
fresh young faith in those old tatterdemalions.
"But, no matter what they do, they are very, very kind to you?"
she continued quite tremulously.
"Yes, ma'am--why, Miss Betty, they're lovely men!"
"And do you ever hear the things spoken of you learned about at
Mrs.
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