Nibbs

Ronnie sometimes helped Nibbs open the post, tolerating his stories about the Japanese.

The Obald, Book 1: 1983. Chapter 1: Tuesday November 1 « We Don't Count Your Own Visits To Your Blog 2009

Joe Nibbs had come west with the first trappers to leave St. Louis—he was too experienced a slaver to be wasting trade goods on a sickly girl.

Dead Man’s Walk Larry McMurtry 1995

He had hated the West, with its sand and its dust, and had no fondness at all for Joe Nibbs, a greedy, profane, violent old man with black teeth, and a blacker heart.

Dead Man’s Walk Larry McMurtry 1995

The old trader, Joe Nibbs, had his hammer in his hand.

Dead Man’s Walk Larry McMurtry 1995

Joe Nibbs produced tobacco, and the trading went quickly.

Dead Man’s Walk Larry McMurtry 1995

Sam had come from a whaling family, back in Massachusetts—he was so skilled with knots that in the three years he had been helping Joe Nibbs, not a single captive, male or female, had escaped.

Dead Man’s Walk Larry McMurtry 1995

But if the old trader, Joe Nibbs, thought he could trade a few cheap weapons for the Mexican girl, he would have to think again.

Dead Man’s Walk Larry McMurtry 1995

Buffalo Hump, though, was one Indian who made Joe Nibbs nervous.

Dead Man’s Walk Larry McMurtry 1995

Joe Nibbs was wondering the same thing as Sam—what could he offer Buffalo Hump that might make him part with the girl?

Dead Man’s Walk Larry McMurtry 1995

A trader who cheated Indians might survive a year, or even two—but Joe Nibbs had survived almost twenty, by saving his tricks for the whites.

Dead Man’s Walk Larry McMurtry 1995