Free Riders Of the Dawn (1980) by Louis L'amour

alone they would have t o become outlaws to persist in this fight. If the fight continues , all the rustlers in the country will come in here to run off ou r herds while we fight. Did it ever fail? When honest men fal l out, thieves always profit. Moreover, you'll break yoursel f paying gunman's wages. From now on they'll come higher."
    Olga was listening with some surprise and, I believed , with respect. Certainly, I had gone farther than I had eve r believed possible. My own instinct is toward fighting, yet I h ave always been aware of the futility of it. Now I could se e that if the fighting ended, all our problems would be simpl e and easily settled. The joker in the deck was Morgan Park; h e had everything to lose by a settlement and nothing to gain.
    Park interrupted suddenly. "I wouldn't trust all this talk , Rud. Sabre sounds good, but he's got some trick in mind.
    What's he planning? What's he trying to cover?"
    "Morgan!" Olga protested. "I'm surprised at you! Matt i s sincere and you know it."
    "I know nothing of the kind," he replied shortly. "I' m surprised that you would defend this--this killer."
    He was looking at me as he spoke, and it was then I sai d the one thing I had wanted to say, the hunch I could no t prove. At least," I replied, "my killings have been in fai r fights, by men trying to kill me. I've never killed a man wh o had no gun and who would have been helpless against me i n any case!"
    Morgan Park stiffened and his face grew livid. Yet I k new from the way his eyes searched my face that he detected the undercurrent of meaning, and he was trying t o gauge the depth of my knowledge. It was D'Arcy I had i n mind, for D'Arcy had known something about Park and ha d been slain for what he knew, or because he might tell other s what he knew. I was sure of that.
    "It isn't only rustlers," I continued, to Maclaren, "bu t others have schemes they can only bring to success throug h trouble here. There are those who wish this fight to continu e so they may get rights and claims they could never secure i f there was peace."
    Morgan Park was glaring, fighting for control. He coul d see that unless he kept his temper and acted quickly his plan s might be ruined. Something of what I'd said apparently touche d Maclaren, for he was nodding.
    "I'll have to think it over," Maclaren said. "This is n o time to make decisions."
    "By all means." Turning, I took Olga's arm. "Now if y ou'll excuse us?"
    Morgan's face was a study in concentrated fury. H e started forward, blood in his eye. Putting Olga hurriedly t o one side, I was ready for him, but Canaval stepped betwee n us. "Hold it!" Canaval's command stopped Park in his tracks.
    "That's all, Park. We'll have no trouble here."
    "What's the matter?" he sneered. "Sabre need a nursemaid now?"
    "No." The foreman was stiff. "He gave me his word, an d I gave mine. As long as he is on this place my word holds. I f the boss wants him to go, he'll go."
    In the silence that followed, Maclaren turned to me.
    "Sabre, I've no reason to like you, but you are my daughter' s guest and you talk straight from the shoulder. Remain as lon g as you like."
    Park started to speak, but realized he could do nothing.
    He turned his heavy head, staring at me from under heav y brows. That gaze was cold and deadly. "We can settle ou r differences elsewhere, Sabre."
    Olga was worried when we got outside. "You shouldn' t have come, Matt. There'll be trouble. Morgan is a bad enemy."
    "He was my enemy, anyway. That he is a bad enemy, I k now. I think another friend of yours found that out."
    She looked up quickly, real fear in her eyes. "What d o you mean?"
    "Your friend D'Arcy. He comes of a family that does no t frighten easily. Did you ever have a note of acknowledgmen t from him?"
    "No."
    "Strange. I'd have said such a man would never neglec t such an obvious courtesy."
    We stood together, then, looking out at the night an d the desert, no words between us but needing no words, ou r hearts