Bendigo Shafter (Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures) by Louis L'Amour

Author:Louis L'Amour
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2017-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

* * *

NEITHER OF THE men was Pappin. Cain came up behind me, looking over my shoulder to see who it was. “Two of those roughs that lay about Dad Jenn’s place,” he commented. “The taller one is Nels Taylor, and the other is Vin Packman.”

“All right,” I said, “I’ll handle it.”

When I stepped outside to meet them I saw John Sampson’s door was ajar, and it warmed my heart to think it was like it had been. Whenever the town was in danger, everyone stepped to the front. Cain would be there behind me, and Sampson yonder.

Trotter stopped abruptly when he saw me, frowning under the brim of his hat like he couldn’t believe what he saw, but then they came on, the other two evidently asking him who I was.

It was a bright, sun-filled morning, and the valley was green and lovely. From where I stood I could see spots of color around Ruth Macken’s house where her flowers grew. Slow smoke trailed from chimneys, and in the street in front of Dad Jenn’s I could see two men standing, looking up the hill.

Trotter stopped. “Is Neely Stuart here?”

“Yes, he is, Trotter, but as his legal adviser I have told him to sign nothing, to leave the mine closed, and to institute an investigation as to the free gold that seems to be floating about. As gold is readily identifiable as to its mineral content, it seems possible someone has had access to gold that did not pass through Mr. Stuart’s hands.”

Now I was running a strong bluff, but since Trotter didn’t know how much I knew, and a guilty man is very apt to suspect folks know more than they do, I figured I could make it stick.

“You ain’t no lawyer!” Trotter said roughly. “You can’t come that over me!”

“I have been studying law. As you should be aware, Mr. Trotter, I have been studying for some time now.” He had seen me reading and had no idea just what kind of books they were, I believed he would buy that. I’d read Blackstone and a small book on the rules of evidence, and there was more than one practicing lawyer who hadn’t read more than that. “How long does it take to become a lawyer?”

I knew he couldn’t answer that one offhand, but what I wanted now was to confuse him, give him no excuse for gunplay, and to push the play back upon him and take the weight off Neely Stuart.

“Where’s Neely? I want to talk to him!”

“Sorry. I have advised my client to say nothing.” And then again I lied. “Naturally, the governor of the Territory will be sending an officer to investigate the matter.”

Trotter did not like it and I was glad Pappin wasn’t around. Pappin was shrewd and might not have bought my story so easily.

“He owes us money…wages. He’s got to pay or we’ll take the mine.” Trotter put his hands on his hips. “This here ain’t no affair of yours, Shafter, an’ you’d better stay clear.

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