Character Analysis
This guy is in it for one person only: himself. Most likely on the run because of some kind of no-good behavior in the nearest town, Ben takes advantage of Matt's kindness when he comes across the boy, eating Matt's food, inviting himself for the night, and talking Matt's ear off about his incredible adventures. And how does he cap his whole visit off? By stealing the poor kid's rifle. In other words, Ben comes, Ben consumes, and then Ben takes off with Matt's only means of survival. He doesn't even leave a thank you note. Ugh.
Ben is the kind of scoundrel that deserves Attean's spite. Ben claims to have spent some time hanging with some Indians in the old days, but this experience didn't inspire him to respect them at all—as he says to Matt, "'You got to know how to handle 'em'" (3.46). It's a really disrespectful way to speak about anyone—animals and objects usually get handled—and reminds us that we don't believe most of what comes out of Ben's mouth anyway.
The long and the short of it is this: Ben is the worst.