my earnings are still at the ranch with my other belongings."

"You can ride back to the ranch with the boys, who won't be coming with us on this manhunt and get your money and kit," Coker said. "But by God, I will sure miss your fine chuck, and that's a plain fact." Coker then clutched Ba's shoulder in one huge hand and added, "Even if you are some kind of big bug from the Orient."

Ba responded with a slight bow of the head and walked back into the hotel lobby.

"Be back directly," Coker shouted at Billy, Lopez, and me. He climbed aboard his horse and kicked it into a fast lope.

I looked at Ba, who seemed to be on the verge of weeping. "Mr. Coker was the first white man who ever treated me like an equal person. I will...

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