Forty Times a Killer Read Online Free PDF Page A

ten.”
    â€œDon’t make it any more than one, John Wesley,” Glee said.
    Wes was surprised. “How do you know my name?”
    â€œSeen you a few years back when I was visiting with your ma and pa.”
    Glee turned to me as though he thought there was something I ought to know. “The Rev. James Hardin is a fine man. And his wife Mary Elizabeth is a most singular woman and mighty purty.”
    â€œWell, thankee kindly,” Wes said, answering for me. “When next I see them, I’ll tell them what you said.”
    â€œYes, do that, and add my kind regards,” Glee said.
    Was propped the Springfields against the side of a stall. “I’m open to offers for the mustangs and those two rifles.”
    Glee cast his eyes over the horses, then the rifles. “A hundred is the best I can do. That’s giving you thirty dollars apiece for the scrubs when they ain’t worth any more’n ten. As for the Springfields, seems that everybody these days wants repeaters, so they’ll be a hard sell.”
    Wes scowled. “Hard sell, hard bargain.”
    â€œHard times,” Glee said.
    â€œDone and done,” I said. The last thing I wanted was for Wes to fly off the handle and put a bullet into Jas. Glee, prop. Not in the man’s own town.
    â€œAll right, a hundred it is, payable in gold coin.” Then, still smarting a little, Wes said, “Now what’s all this about us staying only one day in Longview?”
    â€œThe law is after you, John Wesley,” Glee said.
    Wes grinned. “The Yankee law is always after me.”
    â€œStay here. Let me put up your mounts.” Glee led the horses into stalls, forked them hay and then returned, his face grim. “John Wesley, this time it’s serious. There’s a state police lieutenant in town by the name of E.T. Stakes, known as Ned to them he considers friends. He’s been asking about you, talking to your kin and the like.”
    â€œDid he mention charges?” I asked.
    Glee stared hard into Wes’s eyes. “You want to hear this?”
    Wes grinned. “Lay it on me, like I give a damn.”
    â€œOne count of hoss theft and three counts of murder. All four of them charges are hanging offenses in Texas.”
    â€œWes, maybe we should light a shuck,” I said.
    â€œHell, no we won’t,” Wes said. “I’ll find this Stakes feller and talk to him. If he’s interested in polite conversation, then fine. If he isn’t, well, Texas will be rid of another Yankee lawman.”
    â€œWes, if you kill a state constable, the law will never leave you alone,” I said. “They’ll come after you until they catch you, or worse.”
    â€œThe young feller’s right, John Wesley,” Glee said. “You can bed down here tonight and ride out at first light. I got a nice pot of beef stew on the simmer, if you’d care to make a trial of it, and I can find some whiskey if you’re an imbibing man.”
    Wes seemed to be thinking over that proposition, but he wasn’t. “Who’s the richest man in town?” he said after a while.
    Glee’s head jerked back in surprise. “Why, I guess that would be Sam Luck. He owns the bank, a couple saloons, a sawmill outside of town, and maybe a dozen other properties he’s foreclosed on in the past twelvemonth.”
    â€œWhere can I find him?” Wes said.
    Glee consulted the nickel railroad watch he took from his pants pocket. “At this time of day, he’ll be taking lunch at the Excelsior Hotel.”
    â€œIs this Luck feller a carpetbagger?” I asked.
    â€œHe’s a black man and a close, personal friend of President Grant,” Glee said. “What does that tell you?”
    â€œYeah, well I can stand it,” Wes said. “I don’t mind doing business with the devil if I can spend his money.”
    â€œSam Luck is a grinder, a real hard-ass,”