the Trail to Seven Pines (1972) Read Online Free PDF Page B

youngster could be nobody but Tex Milligan, for his state was written all over him. Bob Ronson introduced them by saying their names. The last was a big-bodied man with ,,a round, sullen face. His name was Dan Dusark.
    "Startin' today," Ronson said abruptly, "Cassidy's segundo on this ranch. Take his orders like you would my own. Cassidy, we'll talk inside." Swinging down, Ronson led off at a rapid walk.
    Inside, Bob Ronson stopped by his desk and shoved his hands down into his pockets.
    His eyes twinkled and he grinned suddenly. "Hopalong," he said, "I've heard stories about you for a long time. Gibson of the Three T L talks about you all the time.
    Now you're here, and believe me, you're a godsend. Making you segundo of this spread is throwing a load on your shoulders, but if what he says is true, you're just the man for the job.
    "You'll be stepping into trouble. We're the big outfit, we're short of cash, and we're being robbed blind. The small ranches are range-hungry and over half of them rustling.
    "You're a fighter. I know men. I knew when I saw you out there after the holdup that Gibson was right. You'll give the orders when it means fighting. To me as well as the others. I can handle cattle, but I've no confidence in my ability to handle a war. That's your job."
    Cassidy nodded. His admiration for this lean, sincere cattleman was growing.
    "You expect trouble from the Gores too?"
    "You heard of them? Yes, I do. And from other sources there will be trouble. We're the melon they all want to cut in to."
    "All right," Cassidy agreed, hitching his gun belts, "you've hired a hand. I'll run it through without gun smoke if I can. And if I can't?"
    "Use your own discretion," Ronson said simply. "They are asking for trouble. If they want it, give it to them. Only"-his eyes hardened-"if they start it, we win it. Understand?"

    Chapter 3
    Hopalong Serves Notice .
    T he truth of the matter was that Hopalong Cassidy enjoyed ranch life. It was not only association that made it so, but a deep-seated and genuine appreciation for what he was doing. He liked cattle and thoroughly understood them. He liked horses, and good or bad, he enjoyed working with them. Already in his short life he had seen changes come to the range and he was well aware that the life he lived was not to last forever.
    Where once there had been unlimited miles of unfenced and unsettled range, now fences were coming up and nesters creeping in. In some places the nester would remain. In others he would leave, for much of the western grass country was never made for farming.
    Once it was plowed, the wind ripped into it and turned the prairie into a vast dustbin where billowing clouds obscured the sun. But whether he stayed or departed, the nester and the small rancher were bringing changes into the free range country of the West.
    Many of them were honest, home-loving people who wanted nothing more than to make a living. For such as these Hopalong had respect. There were others, however, who came only to fatten themselves and their herds on the vaster herds of the big cattlemen, to reap what others had sown, to spend what others had earned.
    These last were of two principal types: the out-and-out rustler, who drove off herds, took his chances with the cattlemen and would shoot it out if cornered, and the other type, who covered his stealing under a veil of appearances, and allied himself to the honest men of the community. To such as these a ranch like the Rocking R was a veritable honey pot.
    Cattle Bob's death was reported far and wide by word of mouth, and into the country had flocked those who wished to fatten from his herds. The first raids had been tentative, testing raids to see if the young cub carried the punishing claws of the old bear.
    They soon found he did not, and then the looting began. By the time Hopalong Cassidy arrived it was in full swing, and instead of driving cattle off by the dozen, the steals were rising in scope until nights came when