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

figure here. Any girl knows when a man notices her because she's pretty, but
this man had no such ideas in mind. I'd hunted too much game not to know when I
am hunted myself.
If he wasn't followin' because he liked my looks, then why? Anybody could see I
wasn't well-off. My clothes were pretty because I'd made them myself, but they
weren't fancy city clothes. As I didn't look to be carryin' money, why should he
follow me?
My reason for coming to Philadelphia was to meet up with a lawyer and collect
money that was due me. By all accounts it was a goodly sum, but who could know
that?
Somebody might have talked too much. The lawyer himself or his clerk, if he had
such a thing. Most folks like to talk and seem important. Given special
knowledge, they can't wait to speak of it.
The only reason I could think of for someone to follow me was because he knew
what I'd come for and meant to have it.
Back yonder, folks warned of traps laid for young girls in the cities, but none
of that worried me. I was coming to get money, and once I had it in hand, I was
going right back where I came from. In my short years I'd had some going round
and about with varmints, and although I hadn't my rifle with me, I did have a
pistol and my Arkansas toothpick. It was two-edged, razor-sharp, with a point
like a needle. If a body so much as fell against that point, it would go in to
the hilt, it was that sharp.

Amy Sulky set a good table. She seated me on her left and told folks I was a
friend from Tennessee. The city folks at the table bowed, smiled, and said their
howdy-dos.
There was a tall, straight woman with her hair parted down the middle who looked
like she'd been weaned on a sour pickle, and there was a plump gentleman with
muttonchop whiskers who gave me the merest nod and went back to serious eating.
Seemed to me he figured he'd paid for his board and was going to be sure he got
his money's worth, and maybe his neighbor's, too. Opposite me sat a quiet,
serious-looking man with a bald head and a pointed beard. He was neat,
attractive, and friendly. He asked if I intended to stay in the city and I told
him I was leaving as soon as I'd done what I came for.
One thing led to another and I told him about us seeing that item about property
left to the "youngest descendant of Kin Sackett." I told him we'd found the
notice in the Penny Advocate. It had come wrapped around some goods sold us by
the pack peddler.
"That strikes me as odd, Mrs. Sulky," he said, turning to her. "The Advocate has
but a small circulation here in Pennsylvania. I imagine few copies get beyond
the borders of the state. It must have been sheer chance that Miss Sackett saw
the item at all."
He glanced at me. "Have you inquired at the address?"
"No, sir, I have just come to town. We wrote to them and they said I must come
to Philadelphia to establish my relationship."
"Odd," he said again. "It is none of my business, of course, but the procedure
seems peculiar. I know nothing of the legalities. Perhaps they were required to
advertise for heirs, but if so, they used an unlikely method. No doubt they were
surprised when they heard from you."
The talk turned to other things, but he'd put a bee in my bonnet. I said nothing