Read Online Taggart (1959) by Louis L'amour - Free Book Online
Authors: Louis L'amour
Ads: Link
man," Taggart said, "although I've worked mines off and on fo r others. Started using a single- or doublejack when I was a kid. I'm a cattleman."
"Own a ranch?"
Swante Taggart stared bleakly into the night, remembering the cabin in New Mexico , the green meadows of hay, the cattle. "I did," he said. "A big outfit moved in an d there was trouble. "
"Gun trouble?"
"A fair fight, but I beat the wrong man. Now Shoyer is after me. "
It happened ... Adam Stark knew it had happened more than once. It was the day o f the cattle baron, not of the small rancher or farmer ... but he wanted cattle himself.
"I'm no miner, myself," Stark admitted. "Studied geology a little, prospected some.
It's cattle I want, and I've a place in mind down Tucson way."
"A man needs water. If he has water he has it all. Longhorns will make a living almos t anywhere if they can find water within three days' walk. "
"Lots of water on this place I have in mind," Stark said. "Four good water-hole s and a small stream. No place on the outfit is more than four miles from water."
"You own it?"
"I can buy it ... that's why I'm here."
Adam Stark returned to the house, thinking about the ranch. It was a comfort to tal k to a man again. Woman-talk was all right, but a man needed men. Suddenly he foun d himself hoping Taggart would stay on, and if Shoyer came, he could settle that her e as well as anywhere. There was no use in a man running.
He went inside ... Connie was already in bed. Miriam sat by the candl e reading.
"What do you think of him?"
Miriam looked up, wondering what to say. "He's a good man, I think."
"I've been trying to remember where I heard that name, and now I know. He rode shotgu n on the stage out of Cheyenne to Deadwood."
"Will he stay?"
Adam Stark did not know, and said as much. He pulled off his shirt, thinking abou t it. If he did stay on he would be a help here, but he must not go up to the mine.
If he saw what it was like ...
He really worried very little about that mine. Anyone might try to go in there, bu t not one in a million would be foolish enough to swing a pick in there. He just hope d nobody would try it until he was safely out with the hundred thousand he wanted.
Perhaps he had been a fool to tell Taggart so much, but the man was no tenderfoo t and he would understand as soon as he looked around in the morning. The old arrastr a was still there, and no man would be fool enough to remain in such a place unles s he had found gold, and lots of it.
Forty miles to the north Pete Shoyer got up from behind a clump of rocks and looke d out over the moonlit desert. The horse was still there, standing ground-hitched a s he had been for the past hour. By now Shoyer was confident that no one was around.
Behind him in the arroyo where they had taken shelter lay the body of Mark Billings , the last man of the posse he had gathered in Crown King. Until three days ago thre e men had stayed with him after most of the group had turned back as they started int o wilder country.
The four remaining had run into a running fight with Apaches, and of the four onl y Shoyer remained alive.
One man had been shot from his horse, and the others had holed up in a cave and fough t off the Apaches through a day-long battle. At the end of the day one man was dea d and Billings wounded.
During the night Shoyer had slipped from under the overhang that formed their cave , and with Billings over his shoulder he had climbed the cliff. Shoyer was a squarel y built, powerful man of tremendous strength, and Billings' weight was nothing to him.
When they abandoned their horses for shelter in the cave Shoyer had been afraid the y would be found, but they had not. Only one was dead, killed by a stray bullet.
Pete Shoyer knew he was in trouble. In the hard life that lay behind him he had ofte n shaped up with trouble, but this time he knew it would require all his ingenuit y to escape from the Apaches, to survive, and carry on to capture Swante
"Own a ranch?"
Swante Taggart stared bleakly into the night, remembering the cabin in New Mexico , the green meadows of hay, the cattle. "I did," he said. "A big outfit moved in an d there was trouble. "
"Gun trouble?"
"A fair fight, but I beat the wrong man. Now Shoyer is after me. "
It happened ... Adam Stark knew it had happened more than once. It was the day o f the cattle baron, not of the small rancher or farmer ... but he wanted cattle himself.
"I'm no miner, myself," Stark admitted. "Studied geology a little, prospected some.
It's cattle I want, and I've a place in mind down Tucson way."
"A man needs water. If he has water he has it all. Longhorns will make a living almos t anywhere if they can find water within three days' walk. "
"Lots of water on this place I have in mind," Stark said. "Four good water-hole s and a small stream. No place on the outfit is more than four miles from water."
"You own it?"
"I can buy it ... that's why I'm here."
Adam Stark returned to the house, thinking about the ranch. It was a comfort to tal k to a man again. Woman-talk was all right, but a man needed men. Suddenly he foun d himself hoping Taggart would stay on, and if Shoyer came, he could settle that her e as well as anywhere. There was no use in a man running.
He went inside ... Connie was already in bed. Miriam sat by the candl e reading.
"What do you think of him?"
Miriam looked up, wondering what to say. "He's a good man, I think."
"I've been trying to remember where I heard that name, and now I know. He rode shotgu n on the stage out of Cheyenne to Deadwood."
"Will he stay?"
Adam Stark did not know, and said as much. He pulled off his shirt, thinking abou t it. If he did stay on he would be a help here, but he must not go up to the mine.
If he saw what it was like ...
He really worried very little about that mine. Anyone might try to go in there, bu t not one in a million would be foolish enough to swing a pick in there. He just hope d nobody would try it until he was safely out with the hundred thousand he wanted.
Perhaps he had been a fool to tell Taggart so much, but the man was no tenderfoo t and he would understand as soon as he looked around in the morning. The old arrastr a was still there, and no man would be fool enough to remain in such a place unles s he had found gold, and lots of it.
Forty miles to the north Pete Shoyer got up from behind a clump of rocks and looke d out over the moonlit desert. The horse was still there, standing ground-hitched a s he had been for the past hour. By now Shoyer was confident that no one was around.
Behind him in the arroyo where they had taken shelter lay the body of Mark Billings , the last man of the posse he had gathered in Crown King. Until three days ago thre e men had stayed with him after most of the group had turned back as they started int o wilder country.
The four remaining had run into a running fight with Apaches, and of the four onl y Shoyer remained alive.
One man had been shot from his horse, and the others had holed up in a cave and fough t off the Apaches through a day-long battle. At the end of the day one man was dea d and Billings wounded.
During the night Shoyer had slipped from under the overhang that formed their cave , and with Billings over his shoulder he had climbed the cliff. Shoyer was a squarel y built, powerful man of tremendous strength, and Billings' weight was nothing to him.
When they abandoned their horses for shelter in the cave Shoyer had been afraid the y would be found, but they had not. Only one was dead, killed by a stray bullet.
Pete Shoyer knew he was in trouble. In the hard life that lay behind him he had ofte n shaped up with trouble, but this time he knew it would require all his ingenuit y to escape from the Apaches, to survive, and carry on to capture Swante
Similar Books
It's Always Darkest Before the Fridge Door Opens: Enjoying the Fruits of Middle Age
Phil Callaway, Martha O. Bolton
