l'amour, louis

Author:trouble shooter
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2013-03-17T18:30:34.503000+00:00

CHAPTER 7

WANTED! HOPALONG CASSIDY

It was dusk when Tredway rode into the main street. A lone hen pecked at some object lying in the street and a few idlers sat on the edge of the

boardwalk in front of the blacksmith shop. Tredway rode at once to the livery stable and put up his horse.

“Range west of town is worse than around my home place,” he commented to the hostler. “I dislike moving my cattle beyond the place and toward

the Picket Fork, but I’m afraid I must.”

“They’l get into the brush,” the hostler warned, “but I hear you’ve got some hands workin’ up there gettin’ cattle out now.”

“Yes.” Tredway paused, lighting a cigarette. “Some fel ows I hired, saddle tramps.” He started to turn away, then paused. ‘Tou don’t know of a

couple of good hands I could hire, do you? A couple of mine had to be fired recently. Loafing on the job.”

“That right?” The hostler considered a minute. “No, I don’t know’s I do.”

“They were good hands,” Tredway added, “until that fel ow

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LOUIS L’AMOUR

who cal s himself Cameron came around. I contracted with him to get my stock out of the brush, but he and some drifter he has with him strike me

as hard cases. These boys of mine have been loafing around up there ever since. I’l have to get rid of that Cameron.”

Wel satisfied with the planted ideas, he turned and walked on toward the hotel. The hostler picked up his currycomb and turned to the weary horse the Colonel had ridden into town. Now, what did he want to tel me he’d been west of town for? he wondered. That red clay on those hooves never

came from anywhere but the ford on the Picket Fork. He cleaned up the horse and gave it a bait of oats, then walked to the barn office and

stretched out on the old settee. He was dozing when Tom Burnside rode in with the bodies of the dead men. He did not even awaken when the

flurry of excited talk ran up and down the street.

From behind a curtain of his dark room on the second floor of the hotel, Tredway watched the disturbance in the street below. The dead messenger

and the two outlaws were unloaded and then more excited talk began as the outlaws were recognized as Box T hands. Tredway stayed in his room,

but occasional voices drifted words to him and he could fairly wel fol ow the trend of the talk. There was much excited speculation on how many of the Box T riders had been involved.

He was stil standing at the window when the rider on the white horse rode into town.

TROUBLE SHOOTER

146

Hopalong Cassidy took care of his own horse, and when Topper was wel rubbed down and curried, with hay poked into the manger and oats in the

feed box, he turned toward the restaurant. He listened without comment to the excited talk. The fact that the two dead men were Box T riders

confirmed his already-arrived-at conclusion.

Evidently the three remaining outlaws had holed up at Si-papu, and would try to regain the Box T on the fol owing day.

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