Loius L'Amour The_Man_Called_Noon_v1.6

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

large olla such as the Mexicans use to cool water. On the bed lay an old
blanket. He took it up, wrapped it around the olla, put his hat over the top,
and thrust it up to the window. It looked like a man about to climb through. A
rifleman, tense with waiting, might -
The olla had not been in position an instant when therewas the crash of a
volley ... more than two rifles ... three, at least. The olla shattered under
his hand.
He raced for the front of the adobe and was in time to see a man running from
behind the stable toward Noon's horse. If they got his horse he was trapped
... to be killed at leisure.
He never knew when he drew. The sight of the running man, the realization of
what this meant, and his own draw must have been simultaneous. He heard the
bellow of his gun in the close confines of the room ashe shot through the open
door.
The runner took two steps, then stumbled and hit the ground. And then
silence....
The bare, hard-packed earth of the yard was empty, except for the dead man
and the horse. Nervously, the roan had moved nearer.
Keeping his voice low, Ruble Noon called to the horse, which looked toward
him uncertainly.
A boot grated on gravel behind the adobe. They were coming for him. The roan
was nearer now, no more than fifteen or twenty feet off. The long stable was a
wall between the yard and the thickets beyond. There were at least three men
out behind, and they were hunting him now. He could try for the horse....
Suddenly he knew he was not going to run. Not yet. They had planned for that,
were ready for it. He backed into a corner where he could watch the door and
the windows at the same time.
He thumbed back the loading gate of his Colt and thrust out the empty shell,
then added a fresh cartridge. Moving the cylinder, he added another. The
six-shooter was now fully loaded.
He could see a shadow at the window. Somebody was looking into the room, but
the corner where Noon stood could not be seen.
Someone else was at the door. Would they be so foolish as to try a rush?
"Now!"
The word came sharply, and three men leaped into the room, two through
windows,one from the door. It was their first mistake.
They came out of the bright sunlight into the dim light of the room, and one
man stumbled as he landed from the window. All held guns, but only one got off
a shot. He fired as he was falling, the gun blasting its bullet into the
floor.
Ruble Noon shot as they came, and held the gun in his hand and waited a slow
minute while he watched the windows and the door. One of the men on the floor
stirred and moaned. Noon squatted on his heels and stayed quiet.
Outside nothing stirred, and then he heard a magpie. Following that he heard
Page 40
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the pound of hoofs racing away... one rider.
They had thought to surprise him, not thinking of the dimness inside, and he
was in the darkest corner, the last place on which their eyes could focus.
Now the wounded man was staring at him through wide, pain-filled eyes.
"Yougoin ' to shoot me?" he asked.
"No."
"They said youwas a killer."
"Who said so? Who hired you?"
"Iain'tgoin ' to tell you that. They said youwas a back-shootin' killer."
"I don't need to shoot men in the back."
"No," the wounded man admitted, "I guess you don't.... But there's one still
out there."
"No. He rode away - I heard him." Ruble Noon was thinking hard. He said,
"What will he do? Will he bring others?"
"Him?"The wounded man spoke bitterly."That there louse? He'll run hishoss's
legs offgittin ' away. Never wasno fight in him!"
Ruble Noon bolstered his gun and moved over to the wounded man. He had hit
twice, once through the shoulder, the second time through the leg. Working as
swiftly as he could, Noon plugged the wounds and wrapped them with bandages
torn from a dead man's shirt
"Where'd you leave your horse?" he asked.
The man stared at him. "Yougoin 'to run me out of here?"
"I'm going to get you out of here. Or do you want to explain those?" He
gestured to the dead men. "You came here to murder me... remember?"
"We sure didn't cut the mustard," the man said. "You outfoxed us."
Noon collected the guns from the dead men, and packed them outside. He
collected their horses and tied the dead men on them. He pinned on each one a
paper which read:
He tried to dry-gulch Ruble Noon.
Then he turned the horses loose.
The wounded manraised up on an elbow. "Whatwas them papers you pinned on
them?"
"It makes no difference," Noon answered, and sat down. "Now you and I are
going to have a little talk."
The gunman looked at him warily. He was a grizzled, hard-faced man with a
broken nose."About what?"
"About who hired you."
Page 41
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Andsupposin ' Iain't of a mind to?"
Ruble Noon shrugged. 'I'll just pull out those plugs I put in you and I won't
tell anybody where you are. You might manage to walk a mile, but I doubt it.
You'd start bleeding again and before dark you'd be buzzard meat."
The gunman lay back and closed his eyes. "Mister, I don't know who it was.
These boys an' me was in a joint ... the Acme Saloon, it was. There was a gent
come in we knew as Peterson. It wasn't his real name, but that's of no matter.
Anyway, he said we could pick up fifty dollars apiece and he wanted five of
us, for a little shooting.
"He said this was a known man, and there'd be no worry about the law if we
done it. This here Peterson had been in the Rangers at one time, and heknowed
a lot of folks around about town.We taken his word for it. We'd seen himtalkin
' with some high-powered men aroundEl Paso , like A. J. Fountain, theMannings
, Magoffin, and the like of that.
"He laid it out for us, but all the time weknowed he wastalkin ' for somebody
else and not for himself. You see, this Petersonknowed a lot of folks on both [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Linki