"He's going away," she got out through her fingers. "Andy, I can't let 'im go!"
"I've been prayin' for 'im, Tess," choked the dwarf.
The girl made no response, but to show her friend she'd heard, one of her hands sought and held his.
"If it air right for 'im to stay, dear," murmured Andy, "the good God'll help 'im.... Don't ye think so, Tess?"
"I don't know, Andy.... I'm afraid!... It's too awful!"
"Kid, ye know it air true. You've only to ask him," Andy insisted.
A hopeless shake of the bowed head accompanied the whispered answer.
"I can't, Andy! I can't!... I'm so afraid!"
"What you 'fraid of, brat, dear? Jesus air loving you same's He did in the shack. He got Daddy Skinner out of prison, an' he took care of me, didn't he, huh?"
Maddened by suffering, she drew herself impatiently, away from the dwarf.