Sacketts 13 - Mustang Man by L'Amour Louis

Author:L'Amour, Louis [L'Amour, Louis]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Louis L'Amour
Published: 2010-12-10T00:00:00+00:00

Harry Mims was old, and he might be crippled now, but he led us as swiftly

through the trees as though he could see in the dark. We followed, and when he

brought up at the canyon's mouth we came up close to him.

"I don't like it," he said. "The place worries me."

"You're scared?" I was surprised, for that old man was tough. At any other time

he might have gone for his gun at the very question.

"Call it what you like. Maybe the Indians know what they're talking about. I

don't like that canyon, and never did."

"You've been here before?"

"Yes ... It's a litter of bones in there. More than one man has died in that

place."

"Sure. Nathan Hume's pack train died there, or most of them. Their bones will be

there—what else would you expect?"

"There's others," he said soberly. "I tell you, I don't like the place."

"Let's get the gold then, and get out. If we don't do that, we might as well

leave right now, because they'll be coming and I'm not one to fight without

cause."

The dun didn't like the canyon either. He tried to turn away, fought the bit,

and did all he could to avoid entering. The other horses were nervous, but none

of them behaved as badly as the dun.

We rode in, darkness closed around us. Up ahead of us, Harry Mims coughed, and

then drew up. "Like it or not, we'll have to wait until daylight. There's a pool

covered with green scum, and there's some holes around here too. God knows

what's in them, but I'd not like to be."

We sat out horses then, no one of us wanting to get down from the saddle, though

no one of us could have said why. It was simply an uneasy feeling we had, and

the way the horses acted. I know I had no wish to trust the dun with me out of

the saddle, unless he was strongly tied.

Presently a saddle creaked. "I'm getting down," Penelope said. "I'm going to

look around."

"Wait!" I spoke sharply. "This may be a damned trap. Get back in your saddle and

wait."

Well, I expected a quick answer, but none came. She got back into the saddle and

sat quietly. By now the sky was growing gray, and it would not be very long

until it was light enough to see.

Nobody said anything for several minutes, and then it was Mims who spoke. "Say

I'm scared if you like, but I can't get shut of this place fast enough."

Rocks and brush began to take shape, and we could see the walls of the canyon.

Nobody was going to ride out of here unless he went out the front way. Or so I

thought then.

"I could do with a cup of coffee," I said.

"Not there. Let's get the gold and get out."

"It won't be that easy," I said. "It never is."

Nevertheless, I was as eager to be away as he was, for the canyon was a

depressing place. Bones lay about, and not all of them seemed old enough to be

the remains of Nathan Hume's pack train.

We all saw the pool, which lay close to Penelope's horse.

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