"L'Amour, Louis - Sackett Family 11 - The Sky-Liners (a)" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Amour Louis)

worked the Santa Fe Trail with a freight
outfit, and laid track for a railroad mountain
spur, and finally went over the trail from Texas
with a herd of steers. It wasn't until we went
buffalo hunting that we made our stake.
About that time we heard some kinfolk of ours, name
of William Tell Sackett, was herding up
trouble down in the Mogollon, so we saddled up
and lit out, because when a Sackett has trouble his
kin is just bound to share it with him. So we rode
down to help him clean things up. [.The
Sackett Brand.]
This debt in Tazewell now was the last, and our
last cent as well. After two years we were right
back where we started, except that we had
our rifles and hand guns, and a blanket or
two. We'd sold our horses when we came
back to Tennessee from the hunting grounds.
We walked across the mountain, and when we got
to town we headed for the town pump. Once we'd
had a drink we started back across the street
to settle our debt at the store that had given
Pa credit when times were bad.
We were fairly out in the middle of the street when
hoofs began to pound and a passel of folks
a-horseback came charging up, all armed and
loaded for feudin' or bear-fightin'.
Folks went high-tailing it for shelter when they
saw those riders coming, but we were right out in the middle
of the street andof no mind to run. They came
a-tearing down upon us and one of them taken a cut
at me with a quirt, yelling, "Get outen the
street!"
Well, I just naturally reached up and grabbed
a hold on that quirt, and most things I lay a
hand to will move. He had a loop around his wrist and
couldn't let go if he was a mind to, so I just
jerked and he left that saddle a-flying and landed in
the dust. The rest of them, they reined around, of a
mind to see some fun.
That one who sat in the dust roosted there a
speck, trying to figure what happened to him, and
then he came off the ground with a whoop and laid at
me with a fist.
Now, we Sacketts had always been handy at
knuckle-and-skull fighting, but Galloway and me
had put in a spell with Irish track-layers and
freighting teamsters who did most of their fighting like
that. When this stranger looped a swing at my
face, I just naturally stepped inside and