“Adam?”
Adam nodded.
“The boy with the bread.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Judge Bennett reached forward and embraced him.
“Well,” he said softly, “look at you.”
Adam laughed through sudden tears.”I’m a lawyer now.”
“I heard.”
“You heard?”
“People have a way of bringing good news to an old judge.”
They sat on the porch for nearly two hours.
Adam told him about university, law school, his mother, and his work.
Judge Bennett listened with visible pride.
Eventually Adam asked the question he had carried for years.
“Why did you help me?”
The old man looked toward the garden.
“Because someone helped me once.”
Adam leaned forward.
“When I was a child,” the judge continued, “my father died, and my mother struggled to raise four children. There were evenings when we ate almost nothing.”
He paused.
“One winter, a neighbor discovered that our family had no coal to heat the house. The next morning, several bags appeared at our door.”
