José — page 183: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

176 JOSE. “Tf we don’t convert'a few of these red Mormons, blank it! t?’won’t be Dutch Bill’s fault.” CHAPTER XIII. A COMANCHE CAMP. Day was breaking in the east when the trio reached the ford. They had marched all night, the hunter in advance, silent and reserved, Baumann and Bill interchanging their thoughts in a low voice. The fatal issue of the attack had less aston- ished Bill, partly prepared as he was for such a communication, than the secret of Jose’s sex. “In skirts or breeches, a woman’s a woman for all that. The sex can make a fool of an old chap like me in any disguise,” was Bill’s philosophic con- clusion. “I’m sorry for the boy; with proper train- ing he might have amounted to something; but since he’s turned out to be a woman, of course there’s no hope for him. Still, I can’t help pitying him. I wonder if Mr. Green suspected anything, or whether she bamboozled him, too?” Baumann did not deem it prudent to express an opinion, and the subject there ended, although the frequency with which Bill shook his head during the lapse of silence that thereupon ensued indicated to what extent the singular discovery agitated his mind. | The river presented a remarkable aspect in the vicinity of the ford. Notasign of water could be detected and only a layer of quick-sand apparently filled its bed. “Walk lightly across, but don’t rest an instant on either foot if youdon’t want to be ingulfed,” Bob Gomicbooks (E(@) m