"Louis L'amour - sackett05 - Ride The River" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Amour Louis)

Whenever a man like James White gets generous, a body had better hold on to his
pocketbook. "No, I've asked Mr. Chantry to handle it for me. It wouldn't be
polite if I went ahead without him."
"Finian Chantry," White said impatiently, "is too busy to bother with any
mountain girl. You are just using his name. Now, you just sign that paper. I
have another appointment and I simply can't wait."
"Tomorrow morning. Finian Chantry will be with me. We can get it all
straightened out in a few minutes."
He stared at me; then he got up. "You've had your chance," he said. "You may
never see that gold again. I have no idea what your Finian Chantry hopes to doЧ"
A voice spoke from behind me. It was the tall young man from down the table.
"Mister, if I were you, I would leave that gold with the young lady. Anybody who
carries that much in the streets at night is crazy."
James White ignored him. He pushed the paper at me again, and then the pen. "If
you want that money," he said, "you had better sign."
"I am sorry, sir." I got to my feet. "Not until tomorrow morning."
He got up too, and he was almighty angry, I could see that. His face was flushed
a mean red and he glared at me. "You are a very stubborn, foolish young lady,
and you may lose it all."
The young man had moved up beside me, and Mr. Prescott had come into the room.
He said, "If the money is due her," he said, "you will have it or the courts
will take steps to recover it."
He glared at us, then put the money back in the black bag he was carrying and
without another word went out and slammed the door.
"Thank you," I said.
"So that is James White?" Mr. Prescott said. "I have heard of him. If you wish,
I could arrange the time to accompany you?"
"No, thanks. Mr. Chantry will be there."
We talked a few minutes and they left, going to their rooms. For a few minutes I
just stood there staring down at where all that gold had been.
Had I been a fool? Just think! Tomorrow morning I could have been on a stage
starting for home again. Now how long would it be? And would I get any money at
all? What the law said, I had no idea, and maybe there were ways he could keep
it, and I would have to return with empty pockets.
That night, lying in bed, I worried myself to sleep. Mr. Chantry was an old man
and he looked frail for all that he was tall and moved well. Suppose there was
violence? Where I came from in the mountains, there was often bloodshed over
such things, and I did not know how it would be in Philadelphia. When I got up
in the morning, I would check my pistol.
Mr. White was stocky, and although a mite thick in the middle, he looked strong.
And there was that man who followed me. I should have told Mr. Chantry about
him.

When morning came, and when I had my breakfast, I sat waiting in the sitting
room. I was wearing a poke bonnet and a long full skirt trimmed with bows of
ribbon and a shawl around my shoulders. My knitting bag was on my lap and my
pick was inside my skirt in its scabbard and ready to hand. A girl can't be too
careful.
Mr. Butts came in, picking his teeth with an ivory toothpick. He glanced at me
irritably. "I am surprised," he said. "You should have taken the money he