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.
Pages:
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395