What the judge's larder lacked in variety it more than made up for in quantity, and the boy was grateful for this fact.

He was half famished, and the coarse, abundant food was of the sort to which he was accustomed.
Presently he heard the judge's heavy, shuffling step as he came up the path from the road, and a moment later his gross bulk of body filled the doorway.

Breathing hard and perspiring, the judge entered the shanty, but his eagerness, together with his shortness of breath, kept him silent until he had established himself in his chair beside the table, with the jug and a cracked glass at his elbow.

Then, bland and smiling, he turned toward his guest.
"Will you join me ?" he asked.
"No, sir.

Please, I'd rather not," said Hannibal.
"Do you mean that you don't like good liquor ?" demanded the judge.