the Man Called Noon (1970) by Louis L'amour Read Free Book Online Page B

experiences, his education and heredity? I may not know what I am, but my flesh and blood do know, and they react the way they have been conditioned to react. My conscious mind was born only a few days ago, but the habit patterns built into my muscles have forgotten nothing."
    "I cannot believe you were bad."
    "Don't gamble it. When Kissling attacked me I did not think. Whatever I did, it was in me to do."
    "What will you do now?"
    He shrugged, and finished his coffee. "Ben Janish will be coming back, and if he is gunning for me I must kill him or be killed. They say he is an expert, and I do not know whether I can even shoot straight."
    He got up. "I think I will go away for a while. I will try to find out something about myself - who and what I am. If it is something worthwhile, I will come back."
    "I would like that."
    For a few minutes they talked quietly, and then he excused himself and went outside. The night was cool and quiet, and he stood very still, listening to the night sounds and breathing deep of the fresh air. But there was no quiet in him, there was only torment. Still the same questions: Who was he? What was he?
    There was something within him that responded easily and naturally to Fan Davidge. He was at ease with her, he felt right with her; but at any moment his whole life could blow up in his face.
    What if he was an escaped criminal? What if he was wanted by the police for some crime?
    And who was Matherbee? Who was "the man who was best for the job"? Who was Ruble Noon? Or Dean Cullane?
    He knew he must go to El Paso. But first he must return to the cabin in the mountains, search it for some clue to Ruble Noon, and then find the other way out. Then it would be time to go to El Paso.
    If he lived that long ...

The Man Called Noon (1970)

Chapter Six
    The last stars of night clung to the sky, and there was a growing light in the east when he rolled silently from his bunk and dressed. He was outside when he heard a faint step. It was Henneker.
    The old man stared at him sourly. "Pullin' your freight?"
    "Yes."
    "What about her?"
    "You told me she wasn't for my kind. Maybe you're right."
    "I don't mean that. I mean Ben Janish. He was your job, wasn't he?"
    The man who called himself Jonas tightened a strap. There was something here he did not understand.
    Henneker spoke impatiently, keeping his voice low. "Arch doesn't know a thing, but the old man talked to me. I told him you were the only man for the job. He already knew of you, though, and I think he'd been studying on it. I think he knew when he left that he'd never come back, so he had to decide."
    "I don't know what you're talking about." The morning was cold, and he wanted to be away before any of the others were around.
    "All right," the old man said testily, "you don't know anything, and if anybody asks me, neither do I, but if that girl's to have any decent kind of life you'll have to do what you was paid for."
    "And what was I paid for?"
    Henneker snorted. "I told you Davidge talked to me. Four men - that's what you was paid for, four men who needed their hair lifted. You was paid for Dave Cherry, John Lang, Cristobal, and Ben Janish."
    "Why didn't he include Kissling?"
    "He wasn't here at the time. Anyway, he's small stuff. I could handle him myself."
    "You?"
    Henneker stared at him. "I never taken up your kind of work as a business," he said. "I done it for a hobby. Although," he added, "I don't figure I was up to Ben Janish even when I was a kid. Maybe Wes Hardin could do it."
    "You think I can?"
    Henneker shrugged. "You taken the money. You got the job. You do it in your own way an' your own time ... only time is runnin' out."
    Jonas swung into the saddle and reined the dun around. "I'll be back," he said, and walked his horse away into the night.
    Behind him he heard a door close and John Lang's hard voice. "Who was that?"
    "The stranger," Henneker answered. "He's goin' out to tally cattle."
    Jonas drew rein, listening. After a moment Lang