He swept his heavy eyes across the brown and desolate prairie, and back
to the troubled face of the younger man. "You see, Brant, I feel that
I simply have to carry these despatches through. I have a pride in
giving them to Custer myself, because of the trouble I 've had in
getting them here. But perhaps I may not come back, and in that case
there would n't be any one living to tell her the truth. That thought
has bothered me ever since I pulled out of Cheyenne. It seems to me
that there is going to be a big fight somewhere in these hills before
long. I 've seen a lot of Indians riding north within the last four
days, and they were all bucks, rigged out in war toggery, Sioux and
Cheyennes. Ever since we crossed the Fourche those fellows have been
in evidence, and it's my notion that Custer has a heavier job on his
hands, right at this minute, than he has any conception of. So I want
to leave these private papers with you until I come back. It will
relieve my mind to know they are safe; if I don't come, then I want you
to open them and do whatever you decide is best for the little girl.
You will do that, won't you?"
He handed over a long manila envelope securely sealed, and the younger
man accepted it, noticing that it was unaddressed before depositing it
safely in an inner pocket of his fatigue jacket.
"Certainly, Hampton," he said. "Is that all?"
"All except what I am going to tell you now regarding Murphy. There is
no use my attempting to explain exactly how I chanced to find out all
these things, for they came to me little by little during several
years. I knew Nolan, and I knew your father, and I had reason to doubt
the guilt of the Captain, in spite of the verdict of the jury that
condemned him. In fact, I knew at the time, although it was not in my
power to prove it, that the two principal witnesses against Nolan lied.
I thought I could guess why, but we drifted apart, and finally I lost
all track of every one connected with the affair. Then I happened to
pick up that girl down in the canyon beyond the Bear Water, and pulled
her out alive just because she chanced to be of that sex, and I could
n't stand to see her fall into Indian clutches. I did n't feel any
special interest in her at the time, supposing she belonged to Old
Gillis, but she somehow grew on me--she's that kind, you know; and when
I discovered, purely by accident, that she was Captain Nolan's girl,
but that it all had been kept from her, I just naturally made up my
mind I 'd dig out the truth if I possibly could, for her sake. The
fact is, I began to think a lot about her--not the way you do, you
understand; I'm getting too old for that, and have known too much about
women,--but maybe somewhat as a father might feel. Anyhow, I wanted to
give her a chance, a square deal, so that she would n't be ashamed of
her own name if ever she found out what it was."