Only his kid. Now stir about."
After the first surprise was over, Ben Swann did very well. He found the
fire already started in the living-room and on the rug before the hearth a
yellow-haired little girl wrapped in a tawny hide. She was sound asleep,
worn out by the long ride, and she seemed to Ben Swann a very pretty
picture. Surely there could be in her little of the father of whom he had
heard so much--of whom that story of the Killing at Alder was lately told,
He took in that picture at a glance and then went to rustle food; afterward
he went down to sleep in the bunkhouse and at breakfast he recounted the
events of the night with a relish. Not one of the men had been more than
three years on the place, and therefore their minds were clean slates on
which Swann could write his own impressions.
"Appearances is deceivin'" concluded the foreman. "Look at Mrs. Dan Barry.
They tell you around these parts that she's pretty, but they don't tell you
how damned fine lookin' she is. She's got a soft look and you'd never pick
her for the sort that would run clean off with a gent like Barry.
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