TAMER OF MEN
A COWBOY
NOVEL
Chapter one
The four-coach stagecoach stopped and called to its two passengers from
the carriage: "Palace Hotel, Ute City, terminus, please!"
"In those twenty-five years, the town hasn't changed at all," said the passenger,
an elderly man with broad shoulders and a thunderous build. He had a
thick reddish beard, blue eyes, and a big nose. "Ute hasn't changed at all!"
"I think, papa, I'll like it here," said the girl. She was one or
twenty-two years old, slender and delicate. Her dust-coat could not
conceal her quite firm bearing, and the blue straw hat did not quite
conceal the fact that her hair was with a copper tint. Her eyes
were dark, large, and far apart. An almost classically beautiful face,
if her nose hadn't been too blunt, upturned, and freckled. "Just look,
Dad, that mountain over there on the horizon, it looks like would
be made of smoke!"
“Yes, it is, Old Smoke, or properly Cerro Gordo. Granite," he
said, riding his goat.
Thousands of square miles of grass and undergrowth lay around;
and there was plenty of water for the cattle. The whole valley is called
Hailrock. The valley was named after Pat Hailey and Jeff Brock;
these were the first men who drove herds here and settled here as
ranchers. There were still Indians around then. When the Indians
were then driven out, Hailey and Brock split the valley in half and
cast lots to see which half would get them. Hailey got a portion of the
land between the Tanaka Mountains and the Rock River and named his
ranch "Box H." Brock called his ranch "Lone Star" and his share extended
across the river to the Mormon Mountains. His cattle were marked on
the left flank with a large five-pointed star.
Hailey and Brock brought with them a whole pack of wild men who
knew how to ride horses well, but also drink, fight, fight and shoot profusely. And
when they were no longer fighting against the Indians, they were looking -
with whom to fight. And so the hatred between the men of the "Box
H" ranch and "Lone Star" was born. They stole cattle and shot each other.
About two years later, Gil Rafferty opened the first inn here. It
was called "The Long Horn" and it prospered very well.
Jake Gilstrap, the owner, now ran outside the "Palace Hotel" and greeted the
arrivals.
"We want the two best rooms you have!"
"For husbands?"
"Ho, ho! This is my daughter, don't you recognize it? I'm Pike Rand.
This is Enid's daughter."
"My pleasure, lady. What name did you say?"
“Rand. Pike Rand. I used to live here years ago. Oh, where
are the times! Cerro Gordo still stands where I left it.”
“Well,” said Gilstrap, I, when I came
into this valley - there was
a valley instead of that mountain. That's how long I've been here! But
come in.”
The girl wrote on the guest sheet in her nice neat handwriting:
Pike Rand, Miss Enid Rand, California.
"If you'll excuse me, I'll go check on your rooms. They hadn't been
inhabited since the Mormon bishop from Salt Lake lived here,
which was four months ago. Could there be a scorpion in the bed or
a couple of lizards. "Date, have you
ever slept with a snake in your bed?"
I am a beautiful big snake always as a bedfellow. It was
the best snake I've ever had!!"
"And I once fell in love with a scorpion."
Pike Rand now said: "I once drove from home - from, Box H'
- namely - and saw -
Gilstrap opened his mouth, “You mean you used to ride here at the Box
H' Ranch? I thought you were at least a millionaire or the new Mormon
bishop.”
“Yes, twenty-five years ago I used to brand cattle here at, Box
H'. Is old Pat still here?”
“Of course. It's not even half an hour since he walked around to the Long
Horn."
“Thunder! So I have to see him. Enid, dear, stay here and wait for them
to make up your room. Why, that rascal doesn't know me!"
He stormed out of the hotel. Gilstrap looked after Rand and then said,
“Is this hulk really your dad? No offense, miss." "But of course;
that's just the impression papa makes. But he's nice."
"I'm glad. Will you be living here for a while?"
"I think so. It looks like we're going to like it here permanently," said
the girl.
The hotelier took a chair, sat down next to the girl, and said: "I would
like it somehow, miss, if you didn't stay long in this country."
"Why?"
"It is too rough and rugged a country for such a delicate girl."
“But, Mr. Gilstrap, I'm used to a rough life. We were now in the
absolute wilderness of California."
"I wonder. You look like you fell out of a blue moon, so
sweet and soft. But you probably can't do that: ride a horse and
shoot?"
The girl gave a ringing, merrily laugh and said: "But yes, I can
dit and shoot!"
"I wonder. You look like the ladies from the pictures in the Sunday
papers. And listen, your father is Pike Rand, nicknamed Roaring
Rand?"
"Yes, they call him that?"
“He shouldn't have brought you here with him. I'll tell you. There will
be a big cut here. Winn Brock, that's old Brock's son, is running for sheriff.
If he wins, it will be a terrible war between Box H'a and Lone Star. Winn
he says that when he's sheriff, he'll sweep this nest out and drive out all the brawlers and
pickpockets and put all the decent people in here."
..And you're on his side, see, sir?"
"Well, I have to be all right. I'm on his side and the
other side. This is Dave Buckner.”
Seller location:Brno, 61800, Czechia
Shipping conditions: Buyer pays shipping expenses, International shipping Payment methods: PayPal, Bitcoin, Other Crypto (contact seller or check description) Auction started: 2024-09-24 09:12 Auction ends: 2024-12-23 07:12 Auction ID: 3370 Item category: All > Books & Ebooks > Entertainment Second Category: All > Comics, Cards & Sci-Fi > General |