Read Online MacCallister: The Eagles Legacy: The Killing by William W. Johnstone, J. A. Johnstone - Free Book Online Page A

billiard room, it was “the” place to be for cattlemen from all over Wyoming. At the moment, Duff was in one of the club’s parlors, enjoying his cigar and a Scotch as he engaged in convivial conversation with some of the other cattlemen.
    While in Cheyenne, Duff always stayed at the Inter Ocean Hotel which was advertised, with some justification, as the finest hotel between Chicago and San Francisco. Built by Barney Ford, a black man and former slave, the hotel had hosted such notables as President Grant and General Sherman, and writers Charles Dickens and Samuel Clemens, as well as actors Edwin Booth, Sara Bernhardt, and Andrew and Rosanna MacCallister. The latter two happened to be Duff’s cousins.
    “How is your cattle ranch coming along, Duff?” W.C. Irvine asked. Irvine, who was one of the top cattlemen in Wyoming, was with the group of cattlemen enjoying their evening at the club.
    “I’ve grass and water,” Duff replied. “Aye, and there is shelter from the winter’s blow. I have everything on my cattle ranch that you might want, except for one thing.”
    “And what would that be?” one of the other ranchers asked.
    “I don’t have cattle.”
    All the others in the parlor laughed.
    “Ah, but ’tis a small oversight,” Duff assured them.
    “You think no cattle on a cattle ranch is a small oversight?” Irvine asked. “So tell me, Duff, would no apples in an apple pie be but a bit of an oversight as well?”
    “It is a condition soon to be remedied,” Duff said. “I intend to purchase cattle from the Kansas City Cattle Exchange.”
    “Duff, why would you buy stock from the Kansas City Cattle Exchange when you can buy all the cattle you might need, right here in Wyoming to start your ranch?” Francis Warren asked. Like Irvine, Warren was one of the leading cattlemen in the ter-ritory.
    “Yeah,” Joe Carey said. “Isn’t that a bit like carrying coal to Newcastle?”
    “ Och ... Newcastle is in England,” Duff replied. “What care I about Newcastle?”
    The cattlemen laughed at Duff’s response.
    “But, to answer the question you have posed. Kansas City is the only place I can buy a certain breed of cattle, a breed that does not now exist in Wyoming, but one which I shall introduce.”
    “If you’re talking about Herefords, I’m running them on my own ranch,” Converse said.
    “So am I, along with the Longhorns,” Irvine said.
    “No, I’m talking about Angus. Black Angus. Developed in Scotland, they were, and an animal far superior to that English breed, Herefords.”
    “Black Angus? Black cows? You’re going to fill the range with black cows?”
    “Aye.”
    “And they are all black, you say?” Converse asked.
    “Aye, black as a raven’s wing, and shining in the sunlight. Beautiful animals, they are. I had them on m’ place in Scotland.”
    “You make ’em sound so pretty you may have to keep a look out for bull buffalo,” Warren said. “A big buff might come along and make a cuckold of your seed bulls.”
    The cattlemen laughed again.
    “When are you going to Kansas City?” Converse asked.
    “’Tis not my plan to go to Kansas City. ’Tis my plan to have them put the cattle on the cars and ship them here to Cheyenne. Then I will drive them up to my ranch.”
    “Well, I wish you good luck with it,” Irvine said. “Wyoming is a big and empty territory. I expect there’s room here for about ever’ breed of cow there is. And the more the merrier, I say.”
    “How many head you plannin’ on buyin’?” Converse asked.
    “Five hundred head, I think.”
    Warren whistled. “Five hundred? Damn, you’re getting a running start, aren’t you?”
    “Aye, with this many I expect that within five years, I’ll have five thousand head.”
    “That’s going to cost you a ton of money to get started,” Warren said. “If you need to borrow some, and are willing to take a note on your property, I’d be happy to make you a loan.”
    “’Tis grateful I am for the