"THE TRAIL TO SEVEN PINES" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Amour Louis)

for the job. How about it?"
"I've got a job." Hopalong smiled and shook his head. "Thanks just the same."
57
57
LOUIS L'AMOUR
"But this one will pay twice as much!" Harper protested. "We'll pay a hundred and
fifty a month and you split the costs from any arrests with the J.P." He winked.
"That there could run into a sizable chunk of money with this town as tough as it
is. Mileage, too. Now that's an item. A marshal can pile up a sight of mileage if
he wants."
"I've got a job," Hopalong repeated. "Anyway, I'm a rider, not a peace officer."
"Sorry!" Harper seemed irked. "We could have used you."
Hopalong tasted the coffee, then grinned at Katie. "Ma'am," he said, "I sure hope
no cowhand marries you off until I leave town! This is the best coffee I've tasted
since leavin' Texas!"
The door swung open, and a man walked into the room. He was short and barrel-chested,
with a wide jaw and a broken nose. His eyes were blue, but despite the liquor he
seemed to be carrying, his expression was not vague. He had big hands and wore two
guns swung low and tied down.
"Shorty," Katie said severely, "you're drunk again!"
The man grinned widely and impudently. "Not-yet! My walk's no worse than usual and
I can still talk straight. Only"- his eyes drifted to Pony Harper and Clarry Jacks-"only
I do smell somethin' funny, somethin' mighty pecoolyar."
Shorty Montana stared at the two men. "I sure do! I smell polecat. Two polecatsh!"
He looked around in mock bewilderment. "Wheresh the other polecatsh?"
Pony Harper's face hardened and his lips thinned. Clarry Jacks looked ugly, and there
was a devil in his eyes. Cassidy could guess why Jacks hesitated to make an issue
of it. Montana was popular, and a killing by Jacks would be apt to blow the lid off
more than one thing right now. As for Harper, he wanted no part of Montana at any
time. It was an interesting and revealing picture. Hopalong studied it while drinking
his coffee. Shorty at
58
58
THE TRAIL TO SEVEN PINES
least was not afraid of either of them, for he did not hesitate to bait them, obviously
welcoming trouble. And trouble could not profit either of the others.
Shorty leaned his big hands on the table. "I said-wheresh the other polecatsh?"
"Shorty!" Katie Regan spoke sharply now. "Shorty, come over here and drink your coffee!
It's getting cold!"
The drunken man hesitated an instant, staring at the other two, then lurched to a
seat. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Women! Women! Never leave a man alone! Gettin'
so a man can't even have a decent knock-down-and-drag-out fight without a woman buttin'
in! Can't even talk to a couple of polecatsh!"
The door closed softly, and Cassidy noticed the two men had gone quietly outside.
He heard a murmur of conversation, and it sounded bitter. He grinned at the thought
of what was probably being said. At the same time he was wishing he could overhear
it. Whatever those two had to say might be interesting. He doubted that Harper really
wanted him as town marshal. What Harper or somebody wanted was to have him away from
the Rocking R. But who? And why?
Cassidy went to work on the pie and glanced up to see Shorty Montana staring at him.