"SHOWDOWN AT YELLOW BUTTE" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Amour Louis)

reason. i: For the West was of all things, a melting pot. Adventurers
to seek gold, new lands, excitement. Gamblers, women of .the oldest and most active
profession, thugs, gunmen, cow rustlers, horsethieves, miners, cowhands, freighters
and just drifters--
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Louis L'AMoun
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all crowded the street. That bearded unshaven man in the sun-faded red wool shirt
might, if prompted, start to spout Shakespeare. The slender young man talking to
the girl in the buckboard might have graduated frona Oxford, and the white-faced
gambler might be the scion of an old Southern family.
All men wore guns, most of them in plain sight. Few of them would hesitate to use
them if need be. The man who fought with his fists, although present, was a rarity.
A big man lurched from the crowd. Tom glanced at him, and their eyes met. Obviously,
the man had been drinking and was hunting trouble. In Kedrick, he thought he found
it. Sensing a fight, other passersby became wary and stopped to watch.
"So?" The big man stood wide legged, his sleeves rolled about thick, hairy forearms.
" 'Nother one of them durn thieves! Land stealers!" He chuckled suddenly. "Well,
your murderer ain't with you now to save your bacon, an' I aim to git my share of
you right now! Reach!"
Kedrick's mouth was dry, but his eyes were calm. He held the cigarette in his right
hand near his mouth. "Sorry, friend. I'm not packing a gun. If I were, I'd still
not kill you. You're mistaken, man, about that land. My people have a rightful claim
to it."
"Have they, now?" The big man came a step nearer, his hand on the butt of his gun.
"The right to take from a man the land he's sweated over? To tear down his home?
To run his kids out on the desert?"
Despite the fact that the man was drunk, Tom Kedrick saw beyond it a sullen and honest
fury--and fear. Not fear for him, for this man was not afraid, nor would he be afraid
of Dornie Shaw. He was afraid for his family. The realization of that fact struck
Kedrick and disturbed him anew. More and more he was questioning the course he had
chosen.
The crowd murmured and was ugly. Obviously, their sympathies were with the big man,
and against Kedrick.
A low murmur, then a rustling in the crowd, and suddenly: deathly silence. Kedrick
saw the big man's face pale, and heard someone whisper hoarsely, "Look out, Burt!
It's Dornie Shaw!"
Kedrick was suddenly aware that Shaw had moved up beside
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SHOWDOWN AT YELLOW BUTI'E
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"Let me have him, Cap'n," Shaw's voice was low. "It's time
here was stopped."
Kedrick's voice was sharp, cold. "No! Move back, Shaw! I'll
my own battles!"
"But you ain't got a gun!" Shaw's voice was sharper in protest.
Burt showed no desire to retreat. That the appearance of Shaw
had shocked him was evident, but this man was not Peters. He
going to stand his ground. His eyes, wary now, but puzzled,