Free the Rustlers Of West Fork (1951) by Louis - Hopalong 03 L'amour

miles north of him as the crow would fly, but between them lay the deep canyon of the West Fork, and he had half a mind to attempt a crossing and save time. On the other hand, he knew that some knowledge of the country west of him would be a help if he had to run for it, so he continued on along the prescribed route. It was midafternoon by the time he reached the trail to the cabin, and for the first time he felt uneasy. He had been told that this route was known to the outlaws and occasionally used by them. It might be watched, and to ride down the trail would be foolhardy to say the least. Accordingly he pushed on and found a trail that led down from the rim into the canyon of a branch of the stream.
    Turning north off the trail, he rode alongside the stream or even in the shallow, rushing water for almost two miles. Once, coming to a fall of several feet, he was sure that he would have to turn back.
    Yet, surprisingly enough, it was the horse itself who found the way around the falls. Hopalong had reined in with the water rushing by the horse's legs, and evidently deciding to take the matter up itself, the buckskin turned right and picked its way carefully, now in, now out of the stream through a maze of rocks to the stream bed below the falls.
    Suddenly the mouth of the canyon gaped before him, and from the west another stream flowed, coming in at precisely the point where Hopalong's stream and one from the northwest combined. He had emerged from his canyon slightly upstream from the crossing, and now he found a route out of the canyon, and rode up and stopped the buckskin under the trees. Getting down, he carefully rubbed dry the horse's legs, for the water had been very cold. After rubbing warmth back into them, he tied the horse and walked down toward the cabin. At once he heard voices. Dropping to his hands, he lowered himself to his stomach in the grass and edged closer behind the trunk of a tree.
    Past its roots Hopalong could see two men.
    One sat on the porch of the ramshackle old cabin; the other was astride a horse. It was he who was talking, and he had evidently just arrived.
    "Yeah, Barker." There was a low murmur, and then the same man replied, "Yesterday afternoon. Said his name was Hopalong Cassidy.,, "He alone?" the guard asked suspiciously.
    "Seemed to be," the rider replied. "He was with Sim Thatcher, but Johnny says they met at Clifton's. Cassidy was alone then."
    "Hope he stays alone," the guard grumbled.
    "I heard about that outfit. You have trouble with one of 'em an" the first thing you know the country's full of "em. Friend o" mine rode with a hoss thief that Hopalong had trouble with. That young partner of Hoppy's, Mesquite Jenkins, he tracked down the whole shootin' match. He killed Dutch Bill."
    "Well, he sure didn't miss Barker! This Cassidy drilled him right through the heart Had a tobacco sack in his shirt pocket and the bullet drilled right through it. They claim they found some tobacco where the bullet come out!" "What happened to Mowry?"
    "Him? He's snarlin' like a grizzly with a sore tooth! Hopalong shot his gun out of his hand and laid a furrow across the back of it that shore won't heal fast, b'heve me! He's swearin' he'll kill Cassidy as soon as his hand's well."
    "He better hunt him a hole."
    "Maybe." The rider turned his horse.
    "Well, Sparr wanted me to ride over here an' check ever' so often. I'll head back."
    "Stick around. I got a deck o' cards."
    "Can't. Sparr's mighty restless these days himself.
    Might just ride out here, and you know what that would mean."
    Hopalong lay in the grass and watched the rider walk his horse away. It was a nice-looking paint, sorrel and white. And he walked fast. The guard stood up to watch him go, then loafed down to the cliff over the river and stared at the crossing and over at the far side. Finally he turned and came back. Putting his rifle down, he began to fix supper.
    Cassidy started to get up. Then a thought struck him, and he settled down