Rivers West by Louis L’Amour Read Free Book Online Page B

quietly. “In fact, I want three of them…or mules. I want one for me, one for you, and another for the packs. So finish your drink then, and we’ll be over the way to look at the horses.”
    â€œYou’re going to bet?”
    â€œAye. I’ll bet.”
    He was silent, and as for myself, I was remembering that the breadth of my shoulders causes me to look shorter than I am. And the fact that every bit of me was solidly packed muscle over bone made me look fifteen pounds lighter than I was. This was in my favor—and then, too, they knew nothing of me.
    But it was Sam Purdy I wanted.
    Chapter 6
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    F INE HORSES THERE were in the lot, a couple of handsome geldings and a likely looking mare. There was a stallion, too, but a stallion along country lanes and villages can cause a man a deal of trouble.
    But it was not these of which I was thinking. What took my eye was a couple of sturdy, hair-legged geldings, rough with their winter coats. Neither was over thirteen hands, but they were sturdy-looking, with strong, well-muscled shoulders and power in their haunches. And there was a sad-eyed, wise-looking mule, a black mule with whitish rings around his eyes. When he saw me studying him he tossed his head and yawned.
    Jambe-de-Bois studied them with an unfriendly eye. “I’ll have you know I’m no good a’ setting the deck of one of them,” he said grimly. “I’d rather walk.”
    â€œIt is not so bad, and the mule yonder could carry our packs and the tools.”
    â€œI’ll abide that. It’s setting one of them takes me down.”
    We walked back to the inn and resumed our former table. The host crossed over to us. He looked at me, measuring my shoulders with a careful eye. “You’re taking on a bit,” he commented. “Neely is a likely lad, strong and a good wrestler.”
    â€œHe’s big, is he?”
    â€œBigger than you by thirty pounds. He’s beaten them all but Purdy. Nobody can beat Purdy.” The innkeeper was quite serious. “He’s more than a man, and he’s cruel—a cruel, bitter man who fights to wound. There’s those about who’d give a lot to see him whipped.”
    â€œIt will come. If I beat Neely, I shall try him.”
    â€œYou?” The innkeeper was scornful. “He would eat you alive.”
    It irritated me, this talk of the invincible Purdy. But the innkeeper crossed to the sideboard and came back with a piece of iron. It was a horseshoe that had been straightened. “What do you think of that? He did that here before us all. While we looked on, it was.”
    Taking it from him I looked at it, shaking my head. “You are right, of course, it took a man to bend that.” Then I looked up. “The horse dealer promised us another drink. Could we have it now?”
    When he was gone, I put the straightened horseshoe down on the table, and when he returned, I said, “We’ll eat now, for I want my food to settle before I grapple with Neely Hall.”
    â€œYou will meet him, then?”
    â€œI will.”
    â€œYou’ll be stayin’ the night then?”
    â€œWe will, and mark us down for two good beds.”
    When we had eaten, we pushed back from the table, and when Jambe-de-Bois turned toward the door and nobody was looking, I took the iron horseshoe and bent it double, almost back to its former shape. Glancing at it, I applied a bit more pressure, and when the innkeeper crossed to Jambe-de-Bois, I held it down by my side. “Your food is good,” I said, “and the ale excellent. And just between us two, I think you’re a likely man, but if you are also a wise one who likes to make a bit of money on the side, you’ll say nothing of this to anyone.”
    He looked puzzled, wondering of what I was speaking. Then I handed him his horseshoe.
    He started to speak, then abruptly he closed his mouth and went to the sideboard. He thrust the