"Yes; on one occasion I had a chance to be of service to him, and he
had not forgotten it. He has taken the best care of me, and supplied
me with food, which I was unable to procure for myself. I think I
should have starved but for him."
"Ki Sing, I want to shake hands with you again," said Bradley, who
seemed a good deal impressed by conduct which his prejudices would
not have allowed him to expect from a heathen.
Ki Sing winced beneath the strong pressure of the miner's grasp, and
examined his long, slender fingers with some anxiety when he rescued
them from the cordial, but rather uncomfortable pressure.
"Melican man shakee too much!" he protested.
Bradley did not hear him, for he had again resumed conversation with
Dewey.
"Is that your boy, Bradley?" asked the invalid, glaring at Ben, who
modestly kept in the background.
"No, it's a young friend of mine that I came across in 'Frisco. His
name is Ben Stanton. I don't believe you can guess what brought us
up here among the mountains."
"Probably you came, like me, in search of gold."
"That's where you're wrong. Leastways, that wasn't the principal
object of our coming."
"You're not traveling for pleasure, I should think," said Dewey,
smiling.
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