Dark Canyon (1963) Read Online Free PDF

you run them on the mesa between Indian and Cottonwood creeks."
    Gaylord Riley always liked to know what was going on in a community, so he said, "Whose range is that?"
    "Open range."
    The offer smelled of trouble-all kinds of trouble. The price was far too cheap.
    "Too far from my place," he said. "How much otherwise?"
    "That's a good offer, and it's a good range." "The offer is too good. Whose toes do you want stepped on?"
    Hardcastle hesitated. This man was no fool, but how far would he go to get some white-face cattle? He decided against showing his hand. "Forget it. You can have the cattle for twenty dollars a head. I had an idea I'd show Shattuck a thing or two. He figures he's the only man around here who can have any Herefords.'
    "My range is farther out," Riley said mildly. "But at twenty per head, I'll buy."
    Hardcastle shrugged. "Okay . . . it was a fool idea, anyway." He put his cigar down and picked up a pen. "Darby Lewis works for you, and he knows where these cattle are. You send him for them. No need to go yourself unless you're of a mind to." That suited Riley, for he wished to get back to the ranch at the head of Fable Canyon as soon as possible.
    "You send Darby, and I'll have a hand of mine ride with him to your range."
    "All right." Riley placed his glass on the bar. H e looked right into Hardcastle's eyes. "Just one thing, Mr. Hardcastle. I don't know you, and you don't know me. Across the street Mr. Burrage will tell you I'm good for the money, but when those cattle arrive, I want a bill of sale, and I want clear brands, d' you hear?"
    Martin Hardcastle did not like to be questioned. Irritation stirred within him, but he stifled it. "Of course. This is a legitimate deal."
    "And no cattle that ever-at any time-belonged to Shattuck."
    "Shattuck never saw these cattle."
    "Fine-fine and dandy. You've made yourself a deal."
    As he walked through the door, Hardcastle stared after him. So have you, he said in his mind. So have you, you young fool.
    From the moment of Gaylord Riley's arrival in town and his expression of interest in white-face cattle, Hardcastle had seen in him a tool for the destruction of Dan Shattuck.
    Martin Hardcastle was, up to a point, a reasonable man. Like many a man who has enjoyed consistent success, he had come to believe anything he decided on was right, and to be infuriated by anyone or anything that tried to stand in his way. And Martin Hardcastle's success had never suffered frustration until that day when he approached Dan Shattuck.
    It was not so much the refusal, but Shattuck's shocked astonishment at his suggestion, that angered Hardcastle. He had believed his association with the women in the house by the river was unknown, and over the months of his staring at Marie he had convinced himself there was nothing impossible in his plan. After all, he was a rich man-quite as rich a s Shattuck, when it came to that, and between the two of them they could control everything around.
    As he watched Marie coming and going about the town, he fancied she was not unaware of him, and when he combed his hair before the mirror he told himself he was a handsome man-so why not Marie? And after all, who else was there?
    From the days when he had been a shoulder-striker in the streets of New York for Tom Poole, Martin Hardcastle had climbed the ladder of success steadily. It did not matter to him that several of the rungs had been the bodies of men who got in the way, or that his two hard fists and a hard skull had helped his success quite as much as what was inside his skull.
    From a repeat voter and hired slugger, he had gone on to become a watchman at a gambling house, a gambler, master of a bawdy house, and finally, owner of his own gambling joint.
    Aware that any further success would interfere with more powerful interests in New York, he was preparing to leave when the unfortunate death of a man he had rolled made leaving imperative. He had gone to Pittsburgh, to St. Louis, to New