"Guess we didn't come out of season," said Smith with a smile.
"You certainly didn't," broke in Obed. "There's a time for all things,
and this was your time!"
"I believe they're real glad to see us. Don't you think so, Jim?" said
Smith with a smile.
The man whom he called Jim had been sitting on his horse, silent, and he
remained silent yet, but he nodded in reply. Ned's gaze traveled to him
and he was certainly a striking figure. He was over six feet in height,
with large blue eyes and fair hair. His expression was singularly
gentle and mild, but his appearance nevertheless, both face and figure,
indicated unusual strength. Obed had not noticed him before, but now he
exclaimed joyfully:
"Why, it's Colonel Jim Bowie! Jim, it's me, Obed White! Shake hands!"
"So it is you, Obed," said the redoubtable Bowie, "and here we shake."
The hands of the two met in a powerful clasp. Then they all dismounted
and another man, short and thick, shook Obed by the hand and called him
by his first name. He was Henry Karnes, the Tennesseean, great scout and
famous borderer of the Texas plains.
Ned looked with admiration at these men, whose names were great to him.
On the wild border where life depended almost continually upon skill and
quickness with weapons, "Deaf" Smith, Jim Bowie and Henry Karnes were
already heroes to youth.
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