"
"They won't. At least, it isn't likely."
"You'd get me out some way, wouldn't you, Ban?" she said trustfully.
"Yes."
"Ban; that Fred person seemed afraid of you."
"He's got nothing to be afraid of unless he talks too much."
"But you had him 'bluffed.' I'm sure you had. Ban, did you ever kill a
man?"
"No."
"Or shoot one?"
"Not even that."
"Yet, I believe, from the way he looked at you, that you've got a
reputation as a 'bad man'?"
"So I have. But it's no fault of mine."
"How did you get it?"
"You'll laugh if I tell you. They say I've got a 'killer's' eye."
The girl examined his face with grave consideration. "You've got nice
eyes," was her verdict. "That deep brown is almost wasted on a man; some
girl ought to have it. I used to hear a--a person, who made a deep
impression on me at the time, insist that there was always a flaw in the
character of a person with large, soft brown eyes."
"Isn't there a flaw in every character?"
"Human nature being imperfect, there must be. What is yours; suppressed
murderousness?"
"Not at all. My reputation is unearned, though useful. Just before I
came here, a young chap showed up from nowhere and loafed around
Manzanita. He was a pretty kind of lad, and one night in the Sick Coyote
some of the old-timers tried to put something over on him.
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