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He was not quite certain yet that Jim Asberry had murdered his father,

but he knew that Asberry was one of the coterie of "killers" who took

their blood hire froit" him To sit in the same car with these men and to force himself

to withhold his hand, was a hard bullet for Samson South to chew, but

he had bided his time thus far, and he would bide it to the end When

that end came, it would also be the end for Purvy and Asberry He

disliked Hollis, too, but with a less definite and intense hatred

Samson wished that one of the henchmen would make a move toward attack

He made no concealment of his own readiness He re exposed to view the heavy revolver which was strapped

under his left arm He even unbuttoned the leather flap of the holster,

and then being cleared for action, sat glowering across the aisle, with

his eyes not on the faces but upon the hands of the two Purvy spies

The wrench of partings, the long raw ride and dis-spiriting gloom of