The words passed unnoticed save by Drann and Holvey. They exchanged one
glance of consternation, and the fancied security in which they had
dwelt, as fragile as a crystal sphere, was shattered in an instant. The
old man was broken by his illness, his recent hardships. He was verging
on his dotage. His senile folly might well cost them their lives or
liberty.
Indeed, as the description progressed, detailing the child's attire even
to his red shoes, the old fellow's fingers were toying fatuously with one
of them in his deep coat pocket among the loose tobacco that fed his
pipe. "That don't half ekal _him_," he broke out suddenly. "Never war
sech another delightsome leetle creeter."
A moment of stunned amazement supervened among the group.
"Why, say, old Noah, did you ever see that kid?" at length demanded the
reader, with a keen look of suspicion.
It was the inimical expression, rather than a definite consciousness of
self-betrayal, that sent the old man's drifting mind back to its
moorings.
Pages:
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180