Catlow (1963) by Louis L'amour Read Free Book Online Page A

ignoring Ben Cowan would probably be Catlow's man.
    Ben Cowan took a cigar from his pocket and lighted it. He was in no hurry, being a man of deliberation, and he knew that taking Catlow would be quite a trick. And Bijah had obviously made friends in Tucson. Moreover, a substantial portion of the population were something less than law-abiding; and as for the rest, they believed every man should saddle his own broncs. If Cowan wanted Catlow, let him take him.
    Vigilante activity in California, and Ranger activity in Texas had contributed to the population of the Territory, but the population had always been a rugged lot, who fought Apaches as a matter of course.
    The town was an old one--not so old as Santa Fe, of course, but it had been founded shortly after 1768 on the site of an Indian village, or in its close vicinity. There were Spanish-speaking settlers on the spot as well as Indians when Anza passed by on his way to California.
    Ben Cowan had no plans. Catlow had mentioned a girl, but Ben shied from that aspect. Bijah had said he wanted him to meet her, and he was undoubtedly sincere, but Ben was uneasy around women, and he had known few except casual acquaintances around dance halls.
    His mother had died in childbirth and he had grown up on a ranch among men, nursed first by a Mexican woman, and after she left, he was free to wander about as he pleased. Moreover, he was going to put the cutis on Bijah, and he wanted no weepy woman involved.
    Actually he had little time to consider Bijah, for the man he had really come for was somewhere in the area. Ben had trailed him down the Salt River Canyon, through Apache country, and then had lost him somewhere to the north but headed in this direction.
    Word had reached him at Fort Apache that a deserter named Miller had ambushed the Army paymaster and escaped with more than nine thousand dollars. He had been heard to refer, sometime before, to a brother in Tucson.
    Ben Cowan had picked up the trail and followed his man into the town, where Miller had promptly dropped from sight.
    Miller first, Cowan decided, and then Catlow.
    Ben turned and strolled on down the street. Evening was coming on and the wagons were beginning to disappear from the street. A few men had already started to drift toward that part of town known as the Barrio Libre--the Free Quarter. Ben glanced that way, and then after a few minutes of thought, turned toward the Quartz Rock Saloon.
    The bartender looked up as he entered, noticing the badge but offering no comment.
    "Make it a beer," Ben said, and then added, "A friend of mine in Silver City said I should drop in here."
    The bartender drew the beer and placed it on the bar before Cowan.
    "His name was Sandoval," Ben said.
    The bartender picked up the beer and wiped under it with his bar cloth. "What do you want to know?"
    "The name is Miller. He may have other names. He rode into town within the last forty-eight hours. He may have a brother here."
    The bartender put the mug down. "Are you lookin' for anybody else?"
    Ben Cowan did not hesitate. "Not looking. I want Miller."
    "It ain't a brother ... it's a brother-in-law, and he's no friend of Miller's--only there ain't much he can do about it. Miller is a bad one." The bartender leaned his thick forearms on the bar. "Only he'd better walk a straight line this time. Bijah Catlow is courtin' Cord Burton."
    "Cord?"
    "Short for Cordelia, daughter to Moss Burton, Miller's brother-in-law. From what I hear tell, Catlow is an impatient man."
    Ben Cowan took a swallow of his beer. So there was to be no waiting ... everything seemed to point him toward Bijah Catlow.
    He finished his beer and left the change from five dollars lying on the bar. As he turned away he was remembering what he knew about Miller.
    The man had ambushed that paymaster. Moreover, every indication offered by his trail west implied that he was a sly, careful man. If such a man thought Catlow was a danger to him he would not say so to his face.