"I will, if I can. I like to do things for boys. I was a little boy once myself and I know exactly how it feels. What is it?"
Again the child hesitated.
Lee studied the lines of his finely molded face and neck and throat. A handsomer boy of ten he had never seen. He pressed his arm closer and held him a moment until he looked up with a tear glistening in his blue eyes.
"Tell me, sonny—"
"My Ma's been cryin' all day, sir, and I want to do somethin' to help her—"
He paused and his voice failed.
"What has she been crying about?"
"We've lost our home, sir, and my daddy's drunk."
"You've lost your home?"
"Yessir. The sheriff come this mornin'. And he's goin' to put us out.
Ma's most crazy. I ain't been a very good boy here lately—"