Read Online Collection 1997 - End Of The Drive (v5.0) by Louis L’Amour - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Louis L’Amour
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keelboat.
Pa, he taught us boys to be honest, to give respect to womenfolk, to avoid trouble when we could, but to stand our ground when it came to a matter of principle, and a time or two Iâd stood my ground.
That old six-shooter of mine was a caution. It looked old enough to have worn out three men, but it shot true and worked smooth. My hands are almighty big but I could fetch that pistol faster than you could blink. Not that I made an issue of it because Pa taught us to live peaceable.
Only there was that time down to Elk Creek when a stranger slicked an ace off the bottom, and I taken issue with him.
He had at me with a fourteen-inch blade and my toothpick was home stuck in a tree where Iâd left it after skinning out a deer, so I fetched him a clout alongside the skull and took the blade from him. A friend of his hit me from behind with a chair, which I took as unfriendly, and then he fetched out his pistol, so I came up a-shooting.
Seemed like Iâd won myself a name as a bad man to trouble, and it saved me some hardship. Folks spoke polite and men seeking disagreement took the other side of the road, only it gave Popley something he could lay a hand to, and he began making slighting remarks about men who got into brawls and cutting scrapes.
Words didnât come easy to me and by the time Iâd thought of the right answer I was home in bed, but when Popley talked I felt like I was disgracing Griselda by coming a-courting.
So I went back to my claim shanty and looked into the bean pot again, but it was still empty, and I went a-hunting wild onions.
Nobody could ever say any of us Sacketts fought shy of work, so I dug away at my claim until I was satisfied there was nothing there but barren gravel. Climbing out of that shaft I sat down and looked at my hole card.
There was nothing left but to load up my gear on that spavined mule I had and leave the country. I was out of grub, out of cash money, and out of luck. Only leaving the country meant leaving Griselda, and worst of all, it meant leaving her to Arvie Wilt.
Time or two Iâve heard folks say thereâs always better fish in the sea, but not many girls showed me attention. Many a time I sat lonely along the wall, feared to ask a girl to dance because I knew sheâd turn me down, and no girl had paid me mind for a long time until Griselda showed up.
She was little, she was pert, and she had quick blue eyes and an uptilted nose and freckles where you didnât mind them. Sheâd grown into a woman and was feeling it, and there I was, edged out by the likes of Arvie Wilt.
Popley, he stopped by. There I was, a-setting hungry and discouraged, and he came down creek riding that big brown mule and he said, âTell, Iâd take it kindly if you stayed away from the house.â He cleared his throat because I had a bleak look to my eye. âGriselda is coming up to marrying time and I donât want her confused. Youâve got nothing, and Arvie Wilt is a prosperous mining man. Meaning no offense, but you see how it is.â
He rode on down to the settlement and there was nothing for me to do but go to picking wild onions. The trouble was, if a man picked all day with both hands he couldnât pick enough wild onions to keep him alive.
It was rough country, above the canyons, but there were scattered trees and high grass plains, with most of the ridges topped with crests of pine. Long about sundown I found some deer feeding in a parklike clearing.
They were feeding, and I was downwind of them, so I straightened up and started walking toward them, taking my time. When I saw their tails start to switch, I stopped.
A deer usually feeds into the wind so he can smell danger, and when his tail starts to wiggle heâs going to look up and around, so I stood right still. Deer donât see all too good, so unless a body is moving they see nothing to be afraid of. They looked around and went back to feeding and I moved
Pa, he taught us boys to be honest, to give respect to womenfolk, to avoid trouble when we could, but to stand our ground when it came to a matter of principle, and a time or two Iâd stood my ground.
That old six-shooter of mine was a caution. It looked old enough to have worn out three men, but it shot true and worked smooth. My hands are almighty big but I could fetch that pistol faster than you could blink. Not that I made an issue of it because Pa taught us to live peaceable.
Only there was that time down to Elk Creek when a stranger slicked an ace off the bottom, and I taken issue with him.
He had at me with a fourteen-inch blade and my toothpick was home stuck in a tree where Iâd left it after skinning out a deer, so I fetched him a clout alongside the skull and took the blade from him. A friend of his hit me from behind with a chair, which I took as unfriendly, and then he fetched out his pistol, so I came up a-shooting.
Seemed like Iâd won myself a name as a bad man to trouble, and it saved me some hardship. Folks spoke polite and men seeking disagreement took the other side of the road, only it gave Popley something he could lay a hand to, and he began making slighting remarks about men who got into brawls and cutting scrapes.
Words didnât come easy to me and by the time Iâd thought of the right answer I was home in bed, but when Popley talked I felt like I was disgracing Griselda by coming a-courting.
So I went back to my claim shanty and looked into the bean pot again, but it was still empty, and I went a-hunting wild onions.
Nobody could ever say any of us Sacketts fought shy of work, so I dug away at my claim until I was satisfied there was nothing there but barren gravel. Climbing out of that shaft I sat down and looked at my hole card.
There was nothing left but to load up my gear on that spavined mule I had and leave the country. I was out of grub, out of cash money, and out of luck. Only leaving the country meant leaving Griselda, and worst of all, it meant leaving her to Arvie Wilt.
Time or two Iâve heard folks say thereâs always better fish in the sea, but not many girls showed me attention. Many a time I sat lonely along the wall, feared to ask a girl to dance because I knew sheâd turn me down, and no girl had paid me mind for a long time until Griselda showed up.
She was little, she was pert, and she had quick blue eyes and an uptilted nose and freckles where you didnât mind them. Sheâd grown into a woman and was feeling it, and there I was, edged out by the likes of Arvie Wilt.
Popley, he stopped by. There I was, a-setting hungry and discouraged, and he came down creek riding that big brown mule and he said, âTell, Iâd take it kindly if you stayed away from the house.â He cleared his throat because I had a bleak look to my eye. âGriselda is coming up to marrying time and I donât want her confused. Youâve got nothing, and Arvie Wilt is a prosperous mining man. Meaning no offense, but you see how it is.â
He rode on down to the settlement and there was nothing for me to do but go to picking wild onions. The trouble was, if a man picked all day with both hands he couldnât pick enough wild onions to keep him alive.
It was rough country, above the canyons, but there were scattered trees and high grass plains, with most of the ridges topped with crests of pine. Long about sundown I found some deer feeding in a parklike clearing.
They were feeding, and I was downwind of them, so I straightened up and started walking toward them, taking my time. When I saw their tails start to switch, I stopped.
A deer usually feeds into the wind so he can smell danger, and when his tail starts to wiggle heâs going to look up and around, so I stood right still. Deer donât see all too good, so unless a body is moving they see nothing to be afraid of. They looked around and went back to feeding and I moved
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