This one is like a rocking chair." "He belonged to your friend, Mr.Hawley." She drew a quick breath, her face again turned forward.
"Who--who is that man?
Do you know ?" "I possess a passing acquaintance," he answered, uncertain yet how much to tell her, but tempted to reveal all in test of her real character.
"Few do not who live along the Kansas border." "Do you mean he is a notoriously bad character ?" "I have never heard of his being held up as a model to the young, Miss Hope," he returned more soberly, convinced that she truly possessed no real knowledge regarding the man, and was not merely pretending innocence.

"I had never heard him called Hawley before, and, therefore, failed to recognize him under that respectable name.

But I knew his voice the moment he entered the cabin, and realized that some devilment was afoot.

Every town along this frontier has his record, and I've met him maybe a dozen times in the past three years.

He is known as 'Black Bart'; is a gambler by profession, a desperado by reputation, and a cur by nature.