For the next three days, we continued northeast toward Clayton. Along the way, we passed several herds of pronghorn antelope, a few packs of coyotes, and plenty of dried cow chips indicating that Coker and his herd of some 1,500 cattle had passed this way a week or so before us.

But more important than the flora and fauna during the trip was the friendship that grew between Ba and me—an amity that would play a critical role in my life a few years down the road. As I rode alongside Ba, initially making sure he didn't tumble from his horse, I mentioned the fact that I had a friend who had gone from America to Cochin China a few years before.

I recounted Signore Difranco's story of political exile from Italy and France, how we met and became friends, and how he had settled in a p...

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