Joe Woods' eyes glisten. He cries over the recital. An eager
question rises to his lips. He chokes it down.
As Peyton finishes, Woods remarks:
"Peyton, I am going to get off at Reno, and go to Virginia City.
You come with me. I want to know about Valois' last days."
Peyton is glad to have a mentor in the West. He has gained neither
peace nor fortune in wandering under the fringing palms of Latin
America.
Toiling up the Sierra Nevada, Woods shows Peyton where Valois won
his golden spurs as a pathfinder.
"I have a favor to ask of you, Peyton," says Joe. "I want to hunt
up that boy in Paris. I'm no lawyer, but I think he ought to have
some of this great estate. Now, Hardin is a devil for slyness. I
want you to keep silent as to Valois till I give you the word.
I'll see you into some good things here. It may take time to work
my game. I don't want Hardin to suspect. He's an attorney of the
bank. He counsels the railroad. He would spy out every move."
"By the way, Colonel Woods," Peyton replies, "I have the papers
yet which were found on Valois' body. I sealed them up. They are
stained with his blood. I could not trust them to chances. I intended
to return them to his child. I have never examined them.
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