nd out
mighty soon."

"But he cannot hold a white woman," I protested stoutly.

"Can't, hey! Wal', I reckon there are ways o' even doin' thet, an' if
thar be, Kirby'll find it. They say thar's mor'n one way ter skin a
cat, an' Joe never cut his eye teeth yisterday, let me tell yer. Thet
gurl's not only white--she's got money, scads ov it, and is a good
looker. I saw her, an' she's some beaut; Joe ain't passin' up nuthin'
like that. I reckon she won't find no chance ter raise a holler fore
he's got her tied good an' strong."

I stared blankly at the fellow, a thousand questions in my mind, and a
dim perception of what he meant permeating my brain.

"Do you mean," I asked, horrified, "that he will compel her to marry
him?"

"Sum smart little guesser, ain't yer? I reckon she's in a right smart
way ter do it, et thet."

"And wus this the cause of the quarrel between Kirby and Kennedy?"

"Wal', I reckon it wus; leastwise Tim wudn't be mixed up in the affair
none. They hed it prutty blame hot, an' I reckon thar'd bin a dead
deputy if hedn't bin fer me. Tim thought I wus a prutty gud frien' an'
cum over yere ter liquor, an' eat. Ther joke ov it is, he never know'd
thet Joe hed told me all 'bout the fix he wus in, afore we cum ashore.
Hell, it wus all fixed up whut wus ter be done--only we didn't expect
the steamer wus goin' on north. Thar's sum boys wantin' a drink; see
yer agin."

I finished shaving, making no attempt to hurry, busily thinking over
this new situation. In the first place why had Rale told me all this?
Quite probably the indiscretion never occurred to him, or a thought
that the matter would prove of any personal interest to me. He had
been drinking, and was in a reckless mood; he believed me a common
river roustabout, with few scruples of conscience, and possibly had
even picked me out as an assistant in the affair. I felt convinced the
man had some purpose in his conversation, and that he had not finished
all he intended to say, when the entrance of customers compelled his
return to the bar. His parting words implied that. Perhaps the revolt
of the deputy made it necessary for the conspirators to select another
helper to properly carry out their nefarious scheme, and Rale had
decided that I might answer. I hoped this might prove the explanation,
and determined to seek the earliest opportunity to impress upon that
individual the fact that I was desperately in need of money, and
decide