Read Online Novel 1966 - Kilrone (v5.0) by Louis L’Amour - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Louis L’Amour
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Indians mustn’t get the warehouse.”
“They won’t, sir.”
“You’ll be getting help from us. We can cover you front and back from Headquarters. We’ll have to be helping the boys in the hospital, too. And you can help us. But don’t forget to watch your blind side.”
“Are you planning to release those boys from the guardhouse? They’re good fighters, if you can handle ’em. That Lahey, now—he’s the best rifle shot in the regiment—or one of the best. And he’s a fighter…believe me, he is.”
“How about the other two?”
“Troublemakers, both of them. Teale is a cowhand from Texas. The boys figure he joined up so he’d have a place to stay during the winter.”
“A snowbird?”
McCracken grinned. “You know the lingo, sir. Yeah, that’s what he is. He’s a rider, though, and a good man when he’s sober—which is most of the time. When he gets a couple under his belt he heads for Hog Town and a poker game.”
“And loses every cent he makes?”
“You said it.” McCracken glanced at him. “Do you gamble?”
“When Sproul runs the house it’s no gamble, believe me. He never ran an honest game in his life.”
McCracken shrugged. “That’s a good way to get killed, saying something like that where it can be heard.”
“He wants me, anyway,” Kilrone replied shortly, “and maybe he’ll get his chance.”
“The other one over there,” McCracken said, “is a Swiss, he says. He might be something else…a German or a Pole. There’s no telling about some of these people. This one is big and he’s mean, but he’ll fight. He has made sergeant three times, I hear, and lost his stripes each time. He’s only been with us a few weeks. His name is Mendel. At least, that’s his name for this enlistment.”
The rain continued, but remained a fine, mistlike rain. One by one as the men came up the parade ground he assigned them to their places. The three from the guardhouse he broke up, putting Lahey in the hospital, Teale in Headquarters, and adding Mendel to the warehouse.
Ryerson would remain in command at the hospital, McCracken would handle the warehouse. Reinhardt, a teamster, and Olson, a cook, would also be at the hospital.
With himself at the Headquarters building he would have Kells, Draper, and Ryan, teamsters. Ryan was a brother of one of the men lost with I Troop. He would also have Rudio the baker, Teale from the guardhouse, and Hopkins the sutler. And with them in Headquarters they would have ten women and six children.
“What about Hog Town?” Teale asked.
“They’ll get along,” Hopkins said. “Dave Sproul has at least twenty men over there. Anyway, it’s the post they’ll be wanting, and we’ll be having plenty of trouble here before this is over.”
As the day went on they worked steadily, bringing food from the warehouse to the hospital and to Headquarters; and a barrel was brought into each place and filled with water. Sacks from the sutler’s store and the warehouse were brought in to fight fire; and materials for binding wounds and taking emergency care of injuries were brought from the hospital.
All the available weapons on sale at the sutler’s were brought to Headquarters and loaded. With spare rifles from the warehouse, each man had two rifles.
“How many of you women can load?” Kilrone asked. “Miss Considine and Mrs. Paddock excepted. I want them free to handle the wounded, if any.”
“I can load,” Stella Rybolt offered. “I’ve had a spell or two of loading before this.”
Alice Dunivant and Sophie Dawson, wives of enlisted men, could load too. Pat Dunivant, who was twelve, also volunteered.
As the shadows gathered, Kilrone walked restlessly about, studying the buildings along the parade ground, and the hills that loomed just beyond. Without doubt there was an Indian, and possibly several, already waiting up in the Santa Rosas, an Indian who was watching whatever they did. As he moved about he tried to think of anything
“They won’t, sir.”
“You’ll be getting help from us. We can cover you front and back from Headquarters. We’ll have to be helping the boys in the hospital, too. And you can help us. But don’t forget to watch your blind side.”
“Are you planning to release those boys from the guardhouse? They’re good fighters, if you can handle ’em. That Lahey, now—he’s the best rifle shot in the regiment—or one of the best. And he’s a fighter…believe me, he is.”
“How about the other two?”
“Troublemakers, both of them. Teale is a cowhand from Texas. The boys figure he joined up so he’d have a place to stay during the winter.”
“A snowbird?”
McCracken grinned. “You know the lingo, sir. Yeah, that’s what he is. He’s a rider, though, and a good man when he’s sober—which is most of the time. When he gets a couple under his belt he heads for Hog Town and a poker game.”
“And loses every cent he makes?”
“You said it.” McCracken glanced at him. “Do you gamble?”
“When Sproul runs the house it’s no gamble, believe me. He never ran an honest game in his life.”
McCracken shrugged. “That’s a good way to get killed, saying something like that where it can be heard.”
“He wants me, anyway,” Kilrone replied shortly, “and maybe he’ll get his chance.”
“The other one over there,” McCracken said, “is a Swiss, he says. He might be something else…a German or a Pole. There’s no telling about some of these people. This one is big and he’s mean, but he’ll fight. He has made sergeant three times, I hear, and lost his stripes each time. He’s only been with us a few weeks. His name is Mendel. At least, that’s his name for this enlistment.”
The rain continued, but remained a fine, mistlike rain. One by one as the men came up the parade ground he assigned them to their places. The three from the guardhouse he broke up, putting Lahey in the hospital, Teale in Headquarters, and adding Mendel to the warehouse.
Ryerson would remain in command at the hospital, McCracken would handle the warehouse. Reinhardt, a teamster, and Olson, a cook, would also be at the hospital.
With himself at the Headquarters building he would have Kells, Draper, and Ryan, teamsters. Ryan was a brother of one of the men lost with I Troop. He would also have Rudio the baker, Teale from the guardhouse, and Hopkins the sutler. And with them in Headquarters they would have ten women and six children.
“What about Hog Town?” Teale asked.
“They’ll get along,” Hopkins said. “Dave Sproul has at least twenty men over there. Anyway, it’s the post they’ll be wanting, and we’ll be having plenty of trouble here before this is over.”
As the day went on they worked steadily, bringing food from the warehouse to the hospital and to Headquarters; and a barrel was brought into each place and filled with water. Sacks from the sutler’s store and the warehouse were brought in to fight fire; and materials for binding wounds and taking emergency care of injuries were brought from the hospital.
All the available weapons on sale at the sutler’s were brought to Headquarters and loaded. With spare rifles from the warehouse, each man had two rifles.
“How many of you women can load?” Kilrone asked. “Miss Considine and Mrs. Paddock excepted. I want them free to handle the wounded, if any.”
“I can load,” Stella Rybolt offered. “I’ve had a spell or two of loading before this.”
Alice Dunivant and Sophie Dawson, wives of enlisted men, could load too. Pat Dunivant, who was twelve, also volunteered.
As the shadows gathered, Kilrone walked restlessly about, studying the buildings along the parade ground, and the hills that loomed just beyond. Without doubt there was an Indian, and possibly several, already waiting up in the Santa Rosas, an Indian who was watching whatever they did. As he moved about he tried to think of anything
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