Read Online Raw Land by Luke; Short - Free Book Online

rejected that, knowing wild horses couldn’t drag his identity from Will.
    Whoever it was, though, man or woman, would have to be killed. Milt faced that fact calmly. It didn’t occur to him that whoever was waiting for him at the drift fence might have this same thought and might be prepared for him. In his mind, Milt knew that if he was to live, this person must die.
    He came to the drift fence sooner than he expected. A dark tangle of brush on the other side of the fence sagged it, and he stopped and examined it in the deep gloom of the canyon. The walls sloped away here, so that the sides were not steep.
    Nothing moved, and he could hear nothing. He rolled a smoke and lighted it. As the match flare died, a voice said from somewhere above him, “Throw that gun up here.”
    Milt started a little at the sound of the voice and peered through the darkness. “It’s Pres Milo, isn’t it?”
    â€œThat’s right. Throw that gun up here.”
    â€œI haven’t got one.”
    â€œThrow it up here,” Pres requested, “or I’ll ride off and head for town.”
    For a moment, Milt didn’t move. Milo hadn’t seen the gun, he was sure. He simply knew he’d brought one. Why hadn’t he brought two, so that he could have thrown one gun away and then, when Milo came down, used the other?
    â€œWell?”
    Silently, Milt took the gun out of his waistband and tossed it in the direction from which Milo’s voice came. Milt heard a sound of cascading gravel, and then the dark bulk of Pres Milo stopped, some feet away from him.
    â€œStay right there,” Milo said. “I can see pretty good, and I’ve got a gun in my hand.”
    Milt was silent a moment, gauging his chances. They weren’t good. Pres might miss the first shot, he wouldn’t the second or third.
    Pres murmured, “Don’t look so good, does it?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œSit down in the sand. You and me are goin’ to parley.”
    Milt sat down. Pres, ten feet away, hunkered down on his heels, and the two of them peered through the darkness at each other.
    â€œSo I was right,” Pres murmured.
    â€œI’m here,” Milt said dryly. “How did you find out my name?”
    â€œI searched your shack yesterday. I found that pitcher of your mother and father.”
    â€œI thought I could hide that,” Milt reflected. “How’d you get it open? I thought it was jammed shut.”
    â€œDropped it and it come open,” Pres said.
    â€œThen let’s get down to business,” Milt said meagerly. “I suppose you’re here to blackmail me. You’re out of luck, my friend. I’m broke.”
    Pres Milo laughed shortly. “I don’t give a damn about that. I don’t give a damn about the five thousand on your head.”
    â€œA public servant,” Milt sneered. “You just want to turn me up because you’re a law-abiding citizen.”
    â€œDid I say I’d turn you up?” Pres murmured.
    â€œThen get to it, man!” Milt said harshly.
    â€œI need you,” Pres said frankly, “to make some money.”
    Milt said nothing.
    Pres shifted his position and said in a low voice, “Tell me some things first I need to know. You ain’t got any money?”
    â€œNo. I was sued for libel, and the judgment went against me. It cleaned me out. You know that.”
    â€œWill Danning bought this place with his money?”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œHe bought it so’s he could hide you, didn’t he?”
    â€œWhy else would he? It’s no good for cattle.”
    There was a long pause, and Pres asked, “But has he bought it? The deed ain’t recorded.”
    â€œAs good as bought it,” Milt said idly. “Chap Hale bought it for him. The title hasn’t been transferred yet.”
    â€œAh, hah!” Pres exclaimed delightedly, softly. “So it ain’t his