Flint (1960) Read Online Free

are you doing here?"
    "Minding my own business. See that you do the same."
    "You're on my range. That makes your being here my business. Get off this range, and get off now."
    "Like hell."
    The man called Kettleman felt a hard, bitter joy mounting within him. So he was going to die. Why die in bed when he could go out with a gun in his hand? He could cheat them all now, and go as Flint had gone, in a blaze of gunfire.
    "When you say this is your range, you lie in your teeth. This is railroad land, owned, deeded, and surveyed. Now understand this: I don't give a damn who you are, and like it here. You can start shooting and I'll spread you all over that saddle."
    He felt the shock of his words hitting them, and knew they were taken aback, as in their place he would have been, by his fury. The fact that he held a shotgun on them at less than twenty paces was an added factor.
    "You're mighty sudden, friend." The man in command held himself carefully, aware that he faced real trouble, and sensing something irrational in the sharpness of the counter-attack. "Who are you?"
    "I'm a man who likes his sleep, and you come hooting and hollering over the hills like a pack of crazy men. I take it you're hunting somebody, but with all that noise he's probably bidden so well you couldn't find him anyway. You act like a lot of brainless tender-feet"
    "That's hard talk, for a stranger."
    "There's nothing strange about this shotgun. It can get almighty familiar."
    "I've twenty men down below. What about them?"
    "Only twenty? They make noise enough for eighty. Why, I'd have a half dozen of them down before they knew what they were up against, and the rest of them would quit as soon as they knew you weren't around to pay them for fighting."
    A voice called through the trees. "Boss? Are you all right?"
    "Tell them to go about their business," Kettleman said. "And then you do the same."
    The rider turned his head. "Beat it, Sam. I'll be along in a minute. Everything is all right."
    He turned back to Kettleman. "There's something here I don't understand. What are you doing here? What do you want?"
    "Not a damned thing. Not a single damned thing."
    The rider dismounted, then turned to his companion. "Bud, you ride along and help the others. I'll meet you at White Rock."
    Bud hesitated. "It's all right, Bud, there will be no trouble with this man. Never tackle a man who doesn't care whether he lives or not. He will always have an edge on you."
    He was short, with square shoulders, prematurely gray hair, and he wore a mustache. His hard, dark eyes studied Kettleman with care.
    Obviously puzzled, he glanced around the camp, seeking some clue. His eyes found the big game rifle. "That's quite a weapon. Must be hard to get ammunition though."
    "I load my own."
    "I see." The rancher got out a cigar and lighted it. "A man with a rifle like that -- well, if he was a good enough shot, he could make himself a lot of money."
    Kettleman was bored. Daylight was not far off and he badly needed rest. Talk of money irritated him, anyway. He could buy this rancher and give him away and never miss what it cost, and how much could it help him now?
    "My name is Nugent. I'm a cattleman."
    "All right."
    Nugent was accustomed to respect and Kettleman's impatience angered him. Wind stirred the flames, and he added a few sticks. Poking at the fire gave him time to think. There had to be a reason for the man's presence. No cowhand could afford such weapons. The rifle alone must have cost several hundred dollars.
    "You said something about this being railroad land."
    Nugent was fishing now, and Kettleman smiled to himself. Experts had tried to get information from him.
    He shrugged. "At least half the land along any railroad right of way is railroad land, isn't it?"
    Nugent was not satisfied. He had a suspicion the man was amused by him, and such a thought was unbearable. He treated Nugent like an inferior. Nugent was not accustomed to being so treated and did not like it. The