There was no food, and little
furniture. The queer feature of it, said the probation
officer, was that the woman managed to keep the boy
fairly neat and clean, regardless of her own condition,
and he generally had food of some sort, although the
mother sometimes went without food for days. Through the
squalor and misery and degradation of her own life Bennie
had somehow been kept unsullied, a thing apart.
"H'm! " said judge Wheeling, and looked at Bennie.
Bennie was standing beside his mother. He was very
quiet, and his eyes were smiling up into those of the
battered creature who was fighting for him. "I guess
we'll have to take you out of this," the judge decided,
abruptly. "That boy is too good to go to waste."
The sodden, dazed woman before him did not
immediately get the full meaning of his words. She still
stood there, swaying a bit, and staring unintelligently
at the judge. Then, quite suddenly, she realized it.
She took a quick step forward. Her hand went up to her
breast, to her throat, to her lips, with an odd, stifled
gesture.
"You ain't going to take him away! From me! No, you
wouldn't do that, would you? Not for--not for always!
You wouldn't do that--you wouldn't--"
Judge Wheeling waved her away.
Pages:
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174