Read Online the High Graders (1965) by Louis L'amour - Free Book Online
Authors: Louis L'amour
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stop all this.
If the richness of the mines could be brought into the open , suddenly exposed, then Ben Stowe and his crowd woul d have nothing to fight for, and it would stop Ra y Hollister too.
The news that the mines were rich would immediatel y destroy any chance of Stowe or any of his crow d buying the mines. It would bring in a rush o f outsiders, and further buying of high-grade would hav e to be curbed. And the ranchers would realize, n o matter what Hollister might say, that the mine s were not about to be abandoned.
But how could he, Mike Shevlin, bring that about?
Nobody would accept the word of a drifting cowhan d with a bad reputation. He must have evidence , concrete evidence in the shape of high-grad e ore. Moreover, he must locate the cache wher e the high-grade was hidden. If he did not do this , the thieves would certainly take the gold an d escape when their thefts were disclosed. And in suc h case, Laine Tennison would be defrauded.
By the time Mike had mucked out the drift it wa s mid-afternoon. Right at the face it was easier, becaus e Burt Parry had gotten a sheet of boile r plate from someone and had placed it on the floo r of the drift before firing his shots and bringing down th e muck on top of the sheet. This was old practic e in the larger mines, but you found little of that sort o f thing in such prospect holes as Parry's.
Mike lined up various lengths o f drill steel near the face; then he came out of th e drift and carried water up from the spring for a bath.
While he washed he had water getting hot o n the stove, and when he had finished he made coffe e and a sandwich. He would have a good meal in town, bu t he knew from long experience that a man was foolis h to start out for anywhere without eating something ... to o many things could happen.
And when he got to town he was going to se e Wilson Hoyt first thing.
Chapter 5
Wilson Hoyt sat behind his battere d roll-top desk, his feet propped up, readin g a newspaper. He looked up as Mik e Shevlin walked in, and acknowledged his presenc e with a brief nod and no show of pleasure.
"You've got something on your mind," he sai d bluntly. "What is it?"
"I'm going to blow the lid off, and I want yo u on my side."
Hoyt picked up the stub of his cigar an d carefully ground it out before throwing it into th e cuspidor. He should have known this job was too goo d to last.
Slowly and in detail, Mike Shevlin lai d out the situation as he saw it. Ray Hollister wa s in that part of the country, and he had the cattleme n solidly behind him. The water of the creeks was bein g polluted, and the cattle needed that water. They woul d attack, the cattlemen would, and that meant killin g and burning.
Ben Stowe would fight back, but regardless o f who won, the town would lose. And, he added, Be n Stowe was robbing the mine owners.
"They don't live in Rafter," Hoyt sai d cynically, "so it doesn't matter." He bi t the end from a fresh cigar. "How do you think it can b e stopped?"
"Arrest Stowe. Arrest Mason and Gentry.
Slap every man of them in jail, then go into the mine s and get enough high-grade for evidence."
"What about Hollister?"
"Forget him. Bring in the five top rancher s and put them under bond to keep the peace. Then le t Hollister stew in his own juice."
"They're outside my jurisdiction."
"Not if you want to act. Nobody reall y wants this trouble but Hollister. He's a sorehead."
Hoyt chewed the cigar thoughtfully, then took hi s feet down from the desk. "Now you listen to me.
Nobody asked me to stop high-grading. I wa s brought in to keep the peace, and I've kept it.
Now you come in here and try to tell me m y business.
"If Ray Hollister starts anything, I'l l kill him, and that goes for you as well. Ben Stow e won't start anything, because he needs peace an d quiet. If you try to blow the lid off this tow n you're likely to get killed. And even if yo u started something, you couldn't prove a thing.
"Let me tell you something,"
If the richness of the mines could be brought into the open , suddenly exposed, then Ben Stowe and his crowd woul d have nothing to fight for, and it would stop Ra y Hollister too.
The news that the mines were rich would immediatel y destroy any chance of Stowe or any of his crow d buying the mines. It would bring in a rush o f outsiders, and further buying of high-grade would hav e to be curbed. And the ranchers would realize, n o matter what Hollister might say, that the mine s were not about to be abandoned.
But how could he, Mike Shevlin, bring that about?
Nobody would accept the word of a drifting cowhan d with a bad reputation. He must have evidence , concrete evidence in the shape of high-grad e ore. Moreover, he must locate the cache wher e the high-grade was hidden. If he did not do this , the thieves would certainly take the gold an d escape when their thefts were disclosed. And in suc h case, Laine Tennison would be defrauded.
By the time Mike had mucked out the drift it wa s mid-afternoon. Right at the face it was easier, becaus e Burt Parry had gotten a sheet of boile r plate from someone and had placed it on the floo r of the drift before firing his shots and bringing down th e muck on top of the sheet. This was old practic e in the larger mines, but you found little of that sort o f thing in such prospect holes as Parry's.
Mike lined up various lengths o f drill steel near the face; then he came out of th e drift and carried water up from the spring for a bath.
While he washed he had water getting hot o n the stove, and when he had finished he made coffe e and a sandwich. He would have a good meal in town, bu t he knew from long experience that a man was foolis h to start out for anywhere without eating something ... to o many things could happen.
And when he got to town he was going to se e Wilson Hoyt first thing.
Chapter 5
Wilson Hoyt sat behind his battere d roll-top desk, his feet propped up, readin g a newspaper. He looked up as Mik e Shevlin walked in, and acknowledged his presenc e with a brief nod and no show of pleasure.
"You've got something on your mind," he sai d bluntly. "What is it?"
"I'm going to blow the lid off, and I want yo u on my side."
Hoyt picked up the stub of his cigar an d carefully ground it out before throwing it into th e cuspidor. He should have known this job was too goo d to last.
Slowly and in detail, Mike Shevlin lai d out the situation as he saw it. Ray Hollister wa s in that part of the country, and he had the cattleme n solidly behind him. The water of the creeks was bein g polluted, and the cattle needed that water. They woul d attack, the cattlemen would, and that meant killin g and burning.
Ben Stowe would fight back, but regardless o f who won, the town would lose. And, he added, Be n Stowe was robbing the mine owners.
"They don't live in Rafter," Hoyt sai d cynically, "so it doesn't matter." He bi t the end from a fresh cigar. "How do you think it can b e stopped?"
"Arrest Stowe. Arrest Mason and Gentry.
Slap every man of them in jail, then go into the mine s and get enough high-grade for evidence."
"What about Hollister?"
"Forget him. Bring in the five top rancher s and put them under bond to keep the peace. Then le t Hollister stew in his own juice."
"They're outside my jurisdiction."
"Not if you want to act. Nobody reall y wants this trouble but Hollister. He's a sorehead."
Hoyt chewed the cigar thoughtfully, then took hi s feet down from the desk. "Now you listen to me.
Nobody asked me to stop high-grading. I wa s brought in to keep the peace, and I've kept it.
Now you come in here and try to tell me m y business.
"If Ray Hollister starts anything, I'l l kill him, and that goes for you as well. Ben Stow e won't start anything, because he needs peace an d quiet. If you try to blow the lid off this tow n you're likely to get killed. And even if yo u started something, you couldn't prove a thing.
"Let me tell you something,"
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