"Milo Talon" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Amour Louis)

A moment longer I hesitated, then sat down. "Tell me about it."
"Fifteen years ago my son and I quarreled. He went west. I have not seen or heard
from him since."
"Have you any idea," I asked, "how many men are simply swallowed up by this country?
Men drop from sight every day and no one takes notice. Usually, nobody cares. I have
helped to bury several. No names, no other means of identification, no hint as to
origin or destination. Some are killed by thieves or Indians, some die of thirst,
cholera, or accident."
"No doubt, but my son had a daughter. It is she whom I hope to find."
"And not your son?"
"He is dead." Jefferson Henry bit the end from a cigar. "My son was weak. He was
bold enough when telling me to go to Hell, but he had done that several times and
had always come back. If he was alive he would have done so again, so I know he is
dead."
"What of his wife? The girl's mother?"
Henry lit the cigar. "It was she we quarreled over. I have no wish to see her. I
am not interested in her. I wish only to find my son's daughter."
He paused, considering the glowing end of the cigar. Then he said, "I am a very rich
man. I am no longer young. I have no other heir, and I am alone. She must be found."
"And if she is not found? Who inherits then?"
His eyes were cold. "We will not discuss that. You are to find my granddaughter.
You will be well paid."
"Your son disappeared fifteen years ago?"
"He married despite my wishes. He took his wife and their daughter and went west,
working for a time in Ohio then in St. Louis." Jefferson Henry brushed the ash from
his cigar.
"The daughter may not have lived."
"Of course. That is a contingency for which I am prepared."
"Or she may have become somebody whom you may not wish to claim."
"That is a possibility."
"Why me?"
8
4Louis l'amour
"You have been mentioned to me as a man who knows the west. You were a scout for
the Army. You were mentioned as a man of perception and intelligence." He paused.
"It was also said that you had acceptance along the Outlaw Trail."
"Oh?"
"I might add-I knew your father."
"You knew him?"
"He was a hard-headed, opinionated, difficult man, but he was honest. We agreed on
almost nothing, but once set upon a course he could not be turned aside."
"You were his friend?"
Jefferson Henry brushed the ash from his cigar. From under his thick brows his eyes
were like blue ice. "I was not. Our dislike was immediate and mutual. It remained
so. But I did not come two thousand miles to talk of him. When I hire a man I try
to get the best man for the job. You were recommended."
He opened a drawer of the desk where he sat and took out a sack of gold coins. At
least, by their apparent weight I judged they were gold. "There is one thousand dollars.
I do not demand an itemized account of your expenses, only a general coverage. I
understand that in such situations monies often have to be expended that are better