A Coffin Full Of Dollars by Joe Millard Read Free Book Online Page B

Mister Fifteen Thousand Dollars, in the language of the bounty-hunting trade.
    Under the poncho the hunter's hand closed on the butt of his gun, ready and eager for the explosion of violence he expected to erupt at any moment. The bounties would be rich, and they would be his alone. The only rival with the nerve to challenge him was Shadrach and there had been no sign of him for days.
    To his stunned amazement the outlaws picketed their horses, paid Dandy the admission fee without argument and quietly found seat space on the ground. The bounty hunter was mystified but not lulled into lowering his guard.
    He considered it highly unlikely that the seven wanted outlaws would risk a bounty killer's bullet or a rope dance from the gallows just to see a circus. He had a strong hunch that he himself was the real object of their visit. At least two, and possibly all five, of the toughs he had gunned down at Los Ydros had been members of Apachito's gang. This could well be a mission of vengeance.
    The hunter kept a wary eye on the group but they merely sat, quiet and seemingly intent, while the performance moved smoothly toward its climax, Laura vanished from the closed coffin and Cora rode in to complete the illusion and take the bows. The thunderous applause finally subsided and the bounty hunter stepped up to his gun stand as Dandy launched into his introduction.
    This was the moment when The Man With No Name had half-expected the outlaws to make their move, but nothing happened. He knew, then, what their scheme was and when they intended to put it into action.
    Dandy wound up his flowery pitch and the hunter plunged into his act. During much of it, his back would be turned toward the seven while he stood out in the open, completely exposed. Nevertheless, he was not unduly concerned about the possibility of getting a bullet in the back. That would be too swift, entirely out of keeping with the bandit chief ' s sinister reputation. If, as he had guessed, this was to be an act of vengeance, his dying would be planned to take a very long time and be highly unpleasant.
    He made only one very small change in his act. As its climax he used the rifle to cut the cords suspending the empty bottles, as always, and as always he smashed six of the falling bottles with a pistol shot before it struck the ground. This time, however, he shattered the seventh bottle with another rifle shot as it fell.
    He laid the rifle on the stand beside the empty pistols and turned to bow acknowledgment to the storm of applause. Apachito and his six companions were on their feet and moving toward him, spreading out as they advanced, hands hovering over the butts of their guns. He ignored them, made his bow and turned as if to walk away.
    "Hold it, fella," one of the outlaws called sharply. "Hold it right where you are. We got business to discuss with you."
    The hunter turned back, his expression revealing only a mild, unworried curiosity. He brought out one of the stubby cigars and lit it with exaggerated care.
    "Make it fast, boys. I've got some business of my own to attend to."
    Apachito planted himself in front of the hunter as the others closed in from each side.
    "Your business will keep," he snarled. "A long time." He looked the hunter up and down with hooded, inscrutable Indian eyes. "So you are the one they call Senor Ninguno —Mister Nobody. I have heard many stories about your shooting, most of which I refused to believe. Now, after what we just saw, I believe them all."
    "Thanks, amigo , but can we get down to this business your friend, here, mentioned?"
    "That we can. A few days ago, Senor Ninguno , I sent five of my men to Los Ydros to attend to some important business for me. Instead, they chose to get very drunk and go to the circus first. There they got themselves killed by you. So the errand I sent them on was not done, and this made me very angry."
    "Those bums," the bounty hunter said. "It serves you right for trusting anything important to