Dark Canyon (1963) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Orleans, and then he had followed the railroads west, operating a "house" at the end-of-the-line towns.
    The sudden birth of Rimrock had offered opportunity and he had moved in, opened his own saloon, and then bought another. He had prospered immediately, the saloons crowded, the house on the river doing a land-office business. He bought the livery stable, and opened a store close by. He had been doing a little business buying and selling stock, and kept a corral behind the livery stable where there were weekly auctions of stock. He also operated a butcher shop that sold meat locally.
    He had left the ranch of Dan Shattuck that day trembling with cold fury, a fury that turned int o hatred. Never for an instant had his resolve weakened. He intended to have Marie.
    Of course, she was unaware of his meeting with Shattuck, and he was sure Shattuck would not speak of it. Regardless of that, he intended at the first opportunity to speak to her himself.
    But he was no fool. He was quite sure that Dan Shattuck had meant what he said when he threatened to have him horsewhipped if he tried to speak to Marie.
    He had made up his mind. He would have Marie, but before he had her he would destroy Dan Shattuck, and nowhere would he show his hand. The instrument for Shattuck's destruction would be this young rancher and his white-face cattle.
    When Riley had gone, Valenti came from his table to the bar. "I've seen that gent some place before this-can't figure where."
    "When you remember," Hardcastle said, "you come to me-and don't you tell anybody but me." Valenti was surprised, for he had not gathered that Riley was important. He accepted a drink, and leaned on the bar, trying to think back. From the instant he had glimpsed Riley he had known his face. He had changed, no doubt; a fellow that young might change a lot in a few years. Maybe if he started thinking of him as younger . . . maybe that would do it.
    But even as Hardcastle made his plans to have Marie, other plans were being made. They were being shaped right outside his own door. And the man doing the shaping was Strat Spooner.

    Chapter 5
    Gaylord Riley, followed by Cruz and three pack horses, arrived at the ranch site late in the afternoon.
    The ride had been long and hard, but for the last few miles he had hurried the pace, eager to be on the ground and in camp before darkness. Moreover, he wanted time to look around, to see if anyone had been there during his absence.
    He no longer-in fact, he had never-thought of himself as an outlaw, yet his friends were outlaws and they were in dire trouble, and now, if ever, they would need him.
    Nothing at the ranch site had changed. He rode out on the bench with Cruz and looked around; the usual deer tracks were there, and among them, over some of them, the tracks of a stalking lion.
    As they drew up, the low wall of the aspen and pine-clad Sweet Alice Hills was behind them, cutting them off from the view to the east. Westward the land was afire . . . the pinks and reds of the fantastic rock formations to the west and north were weirdly lit by the dull red fire of the setting sun, while the dark fingers of canyon that clawed toward the Colorado were simply black streaks through the crimson.
    Cruz looked at the scene with astonishment, then c rossed himself. "It is a devil's land," he whispered. "I had heard of it, but-not-never like this!" "We're eight thousand feet up," Riley said quietly, "and it is here I have begun to build, here I shall live.
    "Right down there in front of us is Fable Canyon, and we'll hold our stock there through the worst of the winter. The rest of the time we'll graze them on the plateaus or over in the basin to the north. There's thousands of acres of good grazing over there, but we can't run too many head. This country won't stand overgrazing. I've seen it done, and seen thistles come in, and sage . . . the cattle won't eat them."
    He pointed to their left front. "That's Dark Canyon Plateau-stretches away for