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Page 310

| man grumbled. "All 'cept the ewes, o' course." |

| "It ain't the time of year to do shearing," Stanford said, kneading his chin. "Heard anything that could give us a hint about why he's doin' this?" |

| "I heard one of his men sayin' somethin' about Ashton takin' a journey on a paddlewheeler up the Murray tomorrow," the man said. |

| "Up the Murray in a paddlewheeler?" Stanford said, forking an eyebrow. Then he smiled slowly. "Damn him. He's tryin' to con me. He's takin' the wool to market early to get a jump ahead of me." He straightened his shoulders. He chuckled. "The fool. Don't he know better than to try and con the best con artist in Australia?" |

| "What do you intend to do about it?" the man asked. |

| "Give me time to think about it," Stanford said, then swung around and went back inside the cabin. He caught Bianca before she had a chance to move away from the door. He grabbed her by a wrist and jerked her close to him so that he was glaring into her face. "You forget everything you just heard," he growled. "I don't need you meetin' up with Sasha to spill the beans." |

| Bianca nodded anxiously. |

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