Hopalong Cassidy

E. Mulford Clarence

Description

Fans familiar with the polished and polite on-screen version of this indelible Western hero may be taken aback at their first encounter with his literary predecessor. In Clarence E. Mulford's wildly popular series of novels and short stories, Hopalong Cassidy is rough around the edges, prone to vulgarity, and usually pretty grumpy -- but he's a quintessential cowboy through and through.

Sujets

• Westerns
• Western (genre)
• Western

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781776532278
• Langue: English

Extrait

HOPALONG CASSIDY
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CLARENCE E. MULFORD
 
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Hopalong Cassidy First published in 1910 Epub ISBN 978-1-77653-227-8 Also available: PDF ISBN 978-1-77653-228-5 © 2013 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Chapter I - Antonio's Scheme Chapter II - Mary Meeker Rides North Chapter III - The Roundup Chapter IV - In West Arroyo Chapter V - Hopalong Asserts Himself Chapter VI - Meeker is Told Chapter VII - Hopalong Meets Meeker Chapter VIII - On the Edge of the Desert Chapter IX - On the Peak Chapter X - Buck Visits Meeker Chapter XI - Three is a Crowd Chapter XII - Hobble Burns and Sleepers Chapter XIII - Hopalong Grows Suspicious Chapter XIV - The Compromise Chapter XV - Antonio Meets Friends Chapter XVI - The Feint Chapter XVII - Pete is Tricked Chapter XVIII - The Line House Re-Captured Chapter XIX - Antonio Leaves the H2 Chapter XX - What the Dam Told Chapter XXI - Hopalong Rides South Chapter XXII - Lucas Visits the Peak Chapter XXIII - Hopalong and Red Go Scouting Chapter XXIV - Red's Discomfiture Chapter XXV - Antonio's Revenge Chapter XXVI - Frisco Visits Eagle Chapter XXVII - Shaw Has Visitors Chapter XXVIII - Nevada Joins Shaw Chapter XXIX - Surrounded Chapter XXX - Up the Wall Chapter XXXI - Fortune Snickers at Doc Chapter XXXII - Nature Takes a Hand Chapter XXXIII - Doc Trails Chapter XXXIV - Discoveries Chapter XXXV - Johnny Takes the Hut Chapter XXXVI - The Last Night Chapter XXXVII - Their Last Fight Chapter XXXVIII - A Disagreeable Task Chapter XXXIX - Thirst Chapter XL - Changes Chapter XLI - Hopalong's Reward
Chapter I - Antonio's Scheme
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The raw and mighty West, the greatest stage in all the history of theworld for so many deeds of daring which verged on the insane, wasseared and cross-barred with grave-lined trails and dotted withpresumptuous, mushroom towns of brief stay, whose inhabitants flungtheir primal passions in the face of humanity and laughed incondescending contempt at what humanity had to say about it. In manylocalities the real bad-man, the man of the gun, whose claims to theappellation he was ready to prove against the rancorous doubting ofall comers, made history in a terse and business-like way, and alsomade the first law for the locality—that of the gun.
There were good bad-men and bad bad-men, the killer by necessity andthe wanton murderer; and the shifting of these to their proper strataevolved the foundation for the law of to-day. The good bad-men, thosein whose souls lived the germs of law and order and justice, graduallybecame arrayed against the other class, and stood up manfully fortheir principles, let the odds be what they might; and bitter,indeed, was the struggle, and great the price.
From the gold camps of the Rockies to the shrieking towns of thecoast, where wantonness stalked unchecked; from the vast stretches ofthe cattle ranges to the ever-advancing terminals of the persistentrailroads, to the cow towns, boiling and seething in the loosedpassions of men who brooked no restraint in their revels, no onesection of country ever boasted of such numbers of genuine bad-men ofboth classes as the great, semi-arid Southwest. Here was one of theworst collections of raw humanity ever broadcast in one locality; herethe crack of the gun would have sickened except that moralists werefew and the individual so calloused and so busy in protecting his ownlife and wiping out his own scores that he gave no heed to the sumtotal of the killings; it was a word and a shot, a shot and a laugh ora curse.
In this red setting was stuck a town which we will call Eagle, theriffle which caught all the dregs of passing humanity, where mendanced as souls were freed. Unmapped, known only to those who hadvisited it, it reared its flimsy buildings in the face of God andrioted day and night with no thought of reckoning; mad, insane withhellishness unlimited.
Late in the afternoon of a glorious day towards this town rodeAntonio, "broncho-buster" for the H2, a Mexican of little courage,much avarice, and great capacity for hatred. Crafty, filled withcunning of the coyote kind, shifty-eyed, gloomy, taciturn, andscowling, he was well fitted for the part he had elected to play inthe range dispute between his ranch and the Bar-20. He was absolutelywithout mercy or conscience; indeed, one might aptly say that hisconscience, if he had ever known one, had been pulled out by the rootsand its place filled with viciousness. Cold-blooded in his ferocity,easily angered and quick to commit murder if the risk were small, heembraced within his husk of soul the putrescence of all that was evil.
In Eagle he had friends who were only a shade less evil than himself;but they had what he lacked and because of it were entitled to aforced respect of small weight—they had courage, that spontaneous,initiative, heedless courage which toned the atmosphere of the wholeWest to a magnificent crimson. Were it not for the reason that theyhad drifted to his social level they would have spurned hisacquaintance and shot him for a buzzard; but, while they secretly heldhim in great contempt for his cowardice, they admired his criminalcunning, and profited by it. He was too wise to show himself in thetrue light to his foreman and the outfit, knowing full well that deathwould be the response, and so lived a lie until he met his friends ofthe town, when he threw off his cloak and became himself, and where heplotted against the man who treated him fairly.
Riding into the town, he stopped before a saloon and slouched in tothe bar, where the proprietor was placing a new stock of liquors onthe shelves.
"Where's Benito, an' th' rest?" he asked.
"Back there," replied the other; nodding toward a rear room.
"Who's in there?"
"Benito, Hall, Archer an' Frisco."
"Where's Shaw?"
"Him an' Clausen an' Cavalry went out 'bout ten minutes ago."
"I want to see 'em when they come in," Antonio remarked, shamblingtowards the door, where he listened, and then went in.
In the small room four men were grouped around a table, drinking andtalking, and at his entry they looked up and nodded. He nodded inreply and seated himself apart from them, where he soon became wrappedin thought.
Benito arose and went to the door. " Mescal, pronto ," he said to theman outside.
"D—d pronto , too," growled Antonio. "A man would die of alkali inthis place before he's waited on."
The proprietor brought a bottle and filled the glasses, giving Antoniohis drink first, and silently withdrew.
The broncho-buster tossed off the fiery stuff and then turned hisshifty eyes on the group. "Where's Shaw?"
"Don't know—back soon," replied Benito.
"Why didn't he wait, when he knowed I was comin' in?"
Hall leaned back from the table and replied, keenly watching theinquisitor, "Because he don't give a d—n."
"You—!" shouted the Mexican, half arising, but the othersinterfered and he sank back again, content to let it pass. But not soHall, whose Colt was half drawn.
"I'll kill you some day, you whelp," he gritted, but before anythingcould come of it Shaw and his companions entered the room and thetrouble was quelled.
Soon the group was deep in discussion over the merits of a schemewhich Antonio unfolded to them, and the more it was weighed the betterit appeared. Finally Shaw leaned back and filled his pipe. "You've gotth' brains of th' devil, 'Tony."
"Eet ees not'ing," replied Antonio.
"Oh, drop that lingo an' talk straight—you ain't on th' H2 now,"growled Hall.
"Benito, you know this country like a book," Shaw continued. "Where'sa good place for us to work from, or ain't there no choice?"
"Thunder Mesa."
"Well, what of it?"
"On de edge of de desert, high, beeg. De walls are stone, an' so ver'smooth. Nobody can get up."
"How can we get up then?"
"There's a trail at one end," replied Antonio, crossing his legs andpreparing to roll a cigarette. "It's too steep for cayuses, an' toonarrow; but we can crawl up. An' once up, all h—l can't follow aslong as our cartridges hold out."
"Water?" inquired Frisco.
"At th' bottom of th' trail, an' th' spring is on top," Antonioreplied. "Not much, but enough."
"Can you work yore end all right?" asked Shaw.
" Si ," laughed the other. "I am 'that fool, Antonio,' on th' ranch.But they're th' fools. We can steal them blind an' if they find itout—well," here he shrugged his shoulders, "th' Bar-20 can take th'blame. I'll fix that, all right. This trouble about th' line is justwhat I've been waitin' for, an' I'll help it along. If we can get 'emfightin' we'll run off with th' bone we want. That'll be easy."
"But can you get 'em fightin'?" asked Cavalry, so called because hehad spent several years in that branch of the Government service, anddeserted because of the discipline.
Antonio laughed and ordered more mescal and for some time took nopart in the discussion which went on about him. He was dreaming ofsuccess and plenty and a ranch of his own which he would start in OldMexico, in a place far removed from the border, and where no questionswould be asked. He would be a rich man, according to the standards ofthat locality, and what he said would be law among the peons. He likedto daydream, for everything came out just as he wished; there was nodiscordant note. He was so certain of success, so conceited as not toask himself if any of the Bar-20 or H2 outfits were not his equal orsuperior in intelligence. It was only a matter of time, he toldhimself, for he could easily get the t