Novel 1981 - Comstock Lode (v5.0) by Louis L'Amour

Author:Louis L'Amour [L'Amour, Louis]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Usenet
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 1981-12-01T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 32

THE BURST OF fury passed and left Hesketh cold and empty, chilled through and through as if he had been exposed to an icy wind. For a few minutes his thoughts were confused, and he felt like leaping from the coach and running off into the woods.

His hands gripping his legs above the knees, he fought himself to calmness. The holdup had taken place and Jacob, if he was present, had not acted, which might mean that he still waited upon opportunity.

Waggoner would be next, but would Waggoner know Jacob? Yet Waggoner would get the shares from the Redaway girl, or would he?

She had acted with unexpected resolution and quickness of mind. Who would have believed that a mere play-actress could so suddenly bring all those guns into action? If she did the same thing to Waggoner, what could he do?

Hesketh, calm once more, tried to think it through. He must have those shares. He was positive the actress had them. During the months he had worked for Crockett he had examined everything in the company safe, every ledger, every paper, every letter. Tucked away in one of the drawers was a list of people to whom Crockett had sold stock when the company was still in California. Each shareholder Hesketh had tracked down over the months.

The idea of the holdup had seemed simple enough. He could not recall a case where the people being held up had not been relieved of their valuables without incident, unless there was a shotgun messenger aboard. The stage would be held up, among the things taken would be the shares, and they would be delivered to him.

Who would have expected a damned fool woman to take charge like that? He could not blame Pottawottamie Joe for backing down. It was the intelligent thing to do. The three guns outside could have riddled the stage, but the guns inside would have blown him out of the saddle and his men as well.

Waggoner, where was Waggoner?

With Marcus Zetsev out of the picture, Hesketh had been sure he could make a deal for the shares if they fell into hands other than his. Now it was up to Waggoner.

Inside the moving coach the passengers were settling down. Talk was dying out. Soon they would be relaxed, off guard, not expecting trouble.

If Jacob was aboard the coach, which one was he? Hesketh’s eyes went from the slim, silent man to the man in the brown suit.

A bulky, heavy man, was it fat or muscle? Some of the most powerful men he had ever seen looked fat. The man smelled of stale cigar smoke, and he had blunt, strong fingers with the nails cut sharply off. His thick neck bulged against the stiff collar. A heavy gold watch-chain hung from pocket to pocket of his vest, and there was a diamond stickpin in the red tie he wore. When Grita had called Pottawottamie Joe’s hand, the man in the brown suit had been very quick to produce a pistol, a .

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