Read the Rustlers Of West Fork (1951) for Free Online Page B

his tongue tip. "Jumped me from behind, then called the Kid. You know he was green. When he started the ball rollin" it took in the whole street."
    "You get this hombre's name?"
    Bizco nodded. "He's a two-bit cowpoke from out on some ranch near town."
    "What was his name?" Sparr's voice showed his irritation. "Hopalong Cassidy." was Who?" Avery Sparr sat up straight. "Did you say Hopalong y?"
    "Yeah." Bizco was surprised at the reaction.
    "You know him. Sparr snorted. "Know him? Why, he's one of that crazy Bar 20 outfit! The worst one o' the lot, an' poison with any kind of a gun! Sure, I know him! Know of him, anyway.
    I never had a run-in with him, although some friends of mine did. Those friends," he added, "are in Boot Hill."
    Bizco stood silent, but mentally he was congratulating himself on escaping as easily as he had. If Cassidy's name drew that kind of reaction from Avery Sparr, then he, Bizco, had no business fooling with him. Bizco was a shrewd and cunning young man. It had been said that what he couldn't do with a running iron just simply couldn't be done. He knew how to use a cinch ring effectively, too, and had profited by the coming of wire to the plains country by using it also to make convenient designs for branding. A hot wire could burn a brand as well as an iron and could be twisted and shaped into any kind of a brand.
    He was adept in his own way. He could read sign, too, and he knew a lot of unusual things about driving cattle by night. But he had no illusions about himself. Nor did he have any urge to die by a gun. He had long discovered that the difference between living and dying was a fast horse-and he made sure his horses were always fast.
    Sparr got to his feet. Standing, he towered above Bizco. He was three inches over six feet and heavier than his lean, hard body indicated.
    Turning impatiently, he strode toward the door across the room. He was a gray-eyed man with a haggard face, drawn cheeks, and hard, prominent cheek and jawbones. His hair was brown, thin, and always clung tightly to his long skull. Without another thought for Bizco he opened the door, went through, and closed it behind him. Then, crossing the room beyond, he tapped on another door, from under which a thread of light showed. A girl's apprehensive voice replied, "Who is it?" "Span. Open up."
    There was the sound of a bar being removed, and then the door opened and the girl stepped back.
    The room was large and pleasantly furnished. A fire burned on the hearth, but the place was always heated by a potbellied stove. There were books and papers lying about but no sign of a weapon anywhere.
    The two occupants of the room were the girl and a huge old man, who sat in a chair with his legs wrapped in a blanket.
    Dick Jordan was not old as men go, but in the past few months he had aged a dozen years. It had started with the frightening of his team and the plunge they took over a steep bank. He had been thrown free and had fallen among the jagged boulders down the hillside. His pelvis, both thighs, and a collarbone had been broken. The bones had been set, but during the period when he was slowly regaining strength, Avery Span had moved in and taken over.
    Jordan was a mere shell of his former self. It had been a bitter thing when he realized the accident had left him a hopeless cripple, that he could do nothing to aid either his daughter or himself. Pamela was a slender, beautiful girl of eighteen, and there was no love in her eyes as she looked at Avery Sparr.
    "What would Hopalong Cassidy be comin' here for?" Span demanded. Jordan's old eyes fired. "Cassidy? Comin' here?" He grinned suddenly. "Want to say good-bye now, Sparr?
    Or are you goin' to wait an' eat lead?"
    "Don't be an old fool!" Sparr snapped.
    "He owe you any money?" "Him? Lord, no! Buck Peters did, though," he added thoughtfully. "Could be he's bringin' that money from Buck."
    Avery Sparr turned to Pamela. In her eyes he caught the glow of triumph. He stared at her