And Jim promised that he would never, never forget. Then a shade came across his face. "Maybe I will, after all," he said, "for I have forgotten Mary Hetterman for more than a week. I did not think I could be so mean."
Adelaide and I had a conference in regard to the prince. It seemed that she had recognized him as Jim Halsey from the first. "I have been wondering," she said, "whether it was not a case like that of Little Lord Fauntleroy, and whether Mrs. Halsey could not be proved to be the wife of a prince, but I see that cannot be the explanation of the matter; and I have concluded that Jim is her adopted child. She must have taken him, when she was in better circumstances, from the people who brought him to this country when he was a very little fellow, and so he has no recollection of any other home."
"She always spoke of him as her very own," I said, "and seemed fonder of him than a foster-mother could be. It will be very hard for her to part with him, if his real relatives claim him."
"Not if he goes to high rank and great estates," said Adelaide. "She probably had no idea of his noble birth when she adopted him; and it just proves that bread cast upon the waters returns, for he will probably care for her right royally, when he comes into his own, and she will find that adopting that boy was the best investment she ever made in her life."
Winnie came in while we were talking.
"Why didn't you tell us, Winnie," I asked, "that Jim Halsey was the little prince?"
"It did not seem necessary," Winnie replied, looking unnecessarily alarmed, as it seemed to me.
"You pay his board directly to Miss Prillwitz, I suppose?" Adelaide said.
"No, I give it to his mother, and she sends it by mail."
"Well, I don't see any harm in letting Miss Prillwitz know that we know his mother, and are helping in his support."