But for the fact that he really did work--
though of course his work was foolish--and the fact that he paid his
way--he bought little, but no one could beat him by so much as a penny
in a bargain, not even the Duchess--Maggie might have considered him
as one of the many bums who floated purposelessly through that drab
region.
Also, had there not been so many queer people coming and going in this
neighborhood--Eads Howe, the hobo millionaire, settlement workers,
people who had grown rich and old in their business and preferred to
live near it--Maggie might have regarded Hunt with more curiosity,
and even with suspicion; but down here one accepted queer people as a
matter of course, the only fear being that secretly they might be
police or government agents, which Maggie and the others knew very
well Hunt was not. When Hunt had rented this attic as a studio they
had accepted his explanation that he had taken it because it was cheap
and he could afford to pay no more. Likewise they had accepted his
explanation that he was a mechanic by trade who had roughed it all
over the world and was possessed with an itch for painting, that
lately he had worked in various garages, that it was his habit to
hoard his money till he got a bit ahead and then go off on a painting
spree.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29