Free the High Graders (1965) by Louis L'amour

quite stable. Remarkabl y stable, in fact. I also think most of them know sh e is my guest."
    Walking away from the house an hour or s o later, Clagg Merriam wondered whether Dr.
    Rupert's last comment had been a warning of som e kind.
    After he had left, Dr. Rupert sat in hi s big chair and lighted his pipe. Laine had aske d for no medical advice, but he was as sure as on e could be without a physical examination that there wa s nothing in the world wrong with Laine Tennison.
    Which left the question: What was she doing i n Rafter, of all places? A broken heart?
    Absurd. Laine was often thoughtful, but she neve r moped.
    Ben Stowe had been curious, even prying. An d Dottie's remark about an uncle in Sa n Francisco had stirred immediate interest i n Merriam. Only a fool would need to ask why.
    Rafter was motivated by only one idea, th e gold from the mines. And who owned the mines? Som e interests in San Francisco.
    Every day Laine rode out, or drove, and a s often as not she traveled the back trails. Was i t just out of curiosity, or for some other, more definit e reason?
    Ben Stowe seemed suspicious, and if, a s Dr. Rupert thought, she was connected with the ownershi p of the mines, then she could be in real trouble.
    Old Brazos at the livery stable was know n to Dr. Rupert. It was the doctor who ha d treated a badly infected leg wound when the ol d outlaw first rode into Rafter, and he had mentione d it to no one. He liked the hard-bitten ol d man, and was liked in return.
    Now, as he packed tobacco into his pipe , he thought that he must have a talk with Brazos, fo r little went on around town that the old hostler did no t know. And Laine Tennison was his guest, and must b e protected.
    The doctor had never accepted more than a fai r price for his medical attentions, and h e had always refused to be paid in gold. Hi s attitude in this was known, and he had never bee n bothered. Was that because he was respected? Because the y needed a good doctor in town? Or because he wa s Clagg Merriam's cousin? For Clag g Merriam was a man of some authority in Rafter.
    Of course, there was a simpler reason. Dr.
    Rupert was notoriously close-mouthed--- e verybody in town knew it. But how much would tha t help if it was discovered that Laine Tennison ha d some connection with the Sun Strike?
    He considered that while he smoked his pipe out , carefully examining all aspects of the problem.
    At the end of the evening one thing was clear: From no w on, Laine Tennison was in danger.
    How many of the corrupted citizens of Rafte r had been corrupted enough to stand by if it came to doin g harm to a young girl? If it came to murder , even? Would they look the other way? How many woul d actually condone murder to protect what they had?
    He knocked out his pipe and walked across th e room to the rifle rack. Carefully, he checke d every weapon. And then he took his Army Colt , checked the loads, and tucked it behind his waistband.
    From this moment, Dr. Rupert Clagg would g o armed.

    Chapter 6
    When Mike Shevlin had walked out o f Wilson Hoyt's office several hour s earlier, he was jumpy as a cat that smell s snake.
    His every instinct warned him that time was running ou t both for himself and for Laine Tennison. The fact tha t she was Eli Patterson's niece had bought hi s loyalty as no offer of a share in the gold could hav e done; although, being a practical man, he was no t unaware of what ten per cent of perhaps half a million dollars could mean in cattle.
    He paused on a corner of the street, starin g about like a bull entering a bullring, searching fo r something at which to charge.
    He needed to find the gold cache, and to be abl e to prevent them removing it when panic set in.
    His instinct told him the proper thing was to bust righ t into the middle of things and start things happening. It wa s a good way to get hurt, but from experience h e knew that when a nest of crooks is disturbed the y are apt to move without planning, and s o make