Sunset Pass (1990) Read Online Free PDF

knew you were in town. Range Preston rode by this mornin' an' passed the news."
    This gaunt man was Slagle, changed vastly, no doubt like his fortunes. The grasp of his hand was rough, hard, but lacked warmth or response.
    "Jess, I'm sure surprised and plumb sorry to find you--your condition so--so different," began Rock, a little uncertain. "What happened? How'd you lose out?"
    "Well, Rock, I had hard luck. Two bad years for water and grass. Then Dabb shut down on me. Next I sold some cattle, put the money in a bank, an' it busted. Then Preston moved into the country--an' here I am."
    "How in the devil did you get here?" demanded Rock bluntly.
    "Right off I made a mistake," returned Slagle. "Preston was keen about my ranch in the Pass. He made me a good offer. I refused. He kept after me. I had some hard words with his son, Ash, an' it all lead to a breach. They kept edgin' my stock down out of the Pass an' that way, then, an' in others, I fell more in debt. I had finally to sell for about nothin'."
    "To Preston?"
    "Sure, No one on the lower range would take it as a gift. It was a poor location, if any other outfit rode the Pass."
    "Ahuh! Then as it stands, Preston about ruined you?"
    "No, Rock, I couldn't claim that. Gage Preston never did me any dirt that I actually know. When I went to him an' told him his outfit was drivin' my stock off grass an' water he raised the very old Ned with his sons, in particular Ash Preston, who's sure rotten enough to taint the whole other twelve Prestons."
    "So this Ash Preston is rotten?" queried Rock deliberately, glad to find one man not afraid to voice his convictions. "Then what happened?"
    "Well, the old man stalled off a shootin' match, I reckon."
    "Have you ever met since?"
    "Lots of times. But I've never had the nerve to draw on Ash. I know he'd kill me. He knows it, too."
    "What do you mean by rotten?"
    "Mebbe it's a poor word. But did you ever see a slick, cold, shiny rattlesnake, just after sheddin' his skin, come slippin' out, no more afraid of you than hell, sure of himself, an' ready to sting you deep? Well, that's Ash Preston."
    "Ahuh! I see," rejoined Rock, studying the other's face. "Glad to get your angle. I'm goin' to ask Preston for a job."
    "I had a hunch you were. I'm wishin' you luck."
    "Do you aim to hang on here?"
    "Thank God, I don't," replied Slagle, with feeling. "My wife--she's my second wife, by the way--has had a little money an' a farm left her in Missouri. Were leavin' before winter sets in."
    "Glad, to hear you've had a windfall Jess."
    Rock kid been two hours leisurely climbing the imperceptible slope up to the mouth of Sunset Pass. It was mid-afternoon. At last he entered the wide portal of the Pass, and had clear view of its magnificent reach and bold wild beauty. The winding Sunset Creek came down like a broken ribbon, bright here and dark there, to crawl at last into a gorge on Rock's left. The sentinel pines seemed to greet him.
    They stood, first, one, isolated and stately, then, another, and next two, and again one, and so on that way until at the height of the Pass they grew in numbers, yet apart, lording it over the few cedars on the level bench, and the log cabins strange to Rock, that he knew must be the home of the Prestons.
    Slowly he rode up and entered the beautiful open park. The road cut through the centre and went down the outer side. Rock had a glimpse of gardens, corrals, fields, and then the purple pass threaded with winding white. Some of the cabins were weathered and grey, with moss green on the split shingles. Other cabins were new.
    Just then a hound bayed, announcing the advent of a stranger in the Pass. Rock, having come abreast of the first cabin, halted his horse.
    The door of this cabin opened. A tall, lithe, belted and booted man stalked out, leisurely, his eagle-like head bare, his yellow hair waving in the wind--Ash Preston.

    Chapter 4
    "Howdy, stranger! Off the trail?"
    The omission of the invariable Western "Get down and