This information was hard to obtain.
Finally, a man who had just returned to Deadwood, hearing
Luke making inquiries of the hotel clerk, said:
"I say, young chap, is the man you are after an old party over
fifty, with gray hair and a long nose?"
"I think that is the right description," said Luke, eagerly.
"Can you tell me anything about him?"
"The party I mean, he may be Harding, or may be somebody else,
is lying sick at Fenton's Gulch, about a day's journey from
here--say twenty miles."
"Sick? What is the matter with him?"
"He took a bad cold, and being an old man, couldn't stand
it as well as if he were twenty years younger. I left him in an
old cabin lying on a blanket, looking about as miserable as you
would want to see. Are you a friend of his?"
"I am not acquainted with him," answered Luke, "but I am
sent out by a friend of his in the East. I am quite anxious
to find him. Can you give me directions?"
"I can do better. I can guide you there. I only came to
Deadwood for some supplies, and I go back to-morrow morning."
"If you will let me accompany you I will be very much obliged."
"You can come with me and welcome.
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