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He had, by persistent questioning, acquired considerable infor the untracked

regions lying before him, as well as the character and disposition of

thehe was able to

comprehend those brief hints that must prove of vast benefit in the

pathless wilderness But the time had not yet arrived for hihts were concentrated on Murphy He knew

that the felloas a stubborn, silent, sullen savage, devoid of

physical fear, yet cunning, wary, nant, and treacherous That was

what they said of him back in Cheyenne What, then, would ever induce

such a -hidden criht easily kill the fellow, but he would probably die,

like a wild beast, without uttering a word

There was one chance, a faint hope, that behind his gruff, uncouth

exterior this Murphy possessed a conscience not altogether dead Over

some natures, and not infrequently to those which seem outwardly the

coarsest, superstition wields a power the norht be spiritually as cringing a coward as he was

physically a fearless desperado Hah scornfully before the un,

and yet treer of accusation He had

lived sufficiently long on the frontier to know that er to which they have grown