Bethany nodded her head. “I wasn’t too sleepy to think.”
“A-a-and now—what do you give me now?”
“I give you your own name,” she said, patiently, “but the other one is in the top of my mind. I could call it down if I wanted to.”
“W-w-would you give this hearthrug a name?” asked the boy, teasingly.
She caressingly passed a hand over the red velvet pile. “Yes, boy, I call this rug Red Heart.”
Titus did not laugh this time. He stared curiously and silently at her.
The Judge interposed a quiet question. “Did you think me a name before you knew my real one, little girl?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, shyly, turning round to face him.
“What was it?”
“I called you Mr. White Tree because your white hair is so soft, just like the blossoms on a little tree in the flower shop on Broadway.”