"TAGGART" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Amour Louis)

...
The tracks had been wiped out, but not by one skilled in tracking. Searching, he
found a partial hoof-print under the edge of a bush ... the wagon had been drawn
by mules.
Returning to the steeldust, he lighted another smoke and considered the situation.
Whoever had brought the wagon this far could have taken it farther; hence it was
logical to suppose that the driver had reached his destination, or close to it.
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30 Louis L'AMOUR
Had the wagon been abandoned because his animals had been killed, at least a skeleton
would have remained.
What would a man be doing in this country? Cattle were impractical with the Apaches
on the loose, although here and there a few were trying it. But he had seen no cattle,
nor any signs of them.
Mining? That might explain the wagon, brought in to carry supplies and equipment.
Why not bring it in on mules? Or horses? But if the man did have a woman along, he
might prefer a wagon, or if he were bringing a large amount of supplies, planning
a long stay.
For one man alone or even a half-dozen men to remain in this country during Apache
trouble meant a secure position, well-fortified, well-supplied.
Of course, it was always possible the wagon had been so cumbersome they had decided
to abandon it, but then the wagon would most likely have been left in the open, wherever
the driver had stopped. There was no reason to conceal the wagon unless the owner
was expecting to remain nearby, and expecting to use it again.
The dryness of the cut brush indicated that the wagon had been left there something
around a month ago, and if the driver of that wagon was not dead, he must be somewhere
within a radius of three or four miles, and the chances were it would be less.
Where one man stopped another could. That man would need water, grass, a place of
hiding or defense. It would be a place, more than likely, where a man could hole
up for a while.
While the steeldust cropped at the mesquite brush, Swante Taggart continued to study
the situation, remembering the terrain he had examined so carefully. He had expected
there would be springs near Rockinstraw, and it must be near one of these that the
man had located.
At present Taggart was hidden from observation and his horse was contented with the
brush. Taking his rifle, canteen, and field glasses, he found a way to the top of
the bank and lay down among the rocks and brush.
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TAGGART 31
It was very hot ... no sound disturbed the clear air. The smells of hot, dry grass
and mesquite came to him. Shielding the field glasses with his sombrero so they would
not reflect sunlight, he began a careful study of the country ahead of him. But after
some time he had found nothing-no clue, no sign of anything, any object that did
not belong, no evidence of a trail anywhere, nothing to indicate the presence of
human beings.
Returning to the brush, he loosened the saddle girth and picketed the gelding. Then
he stretched out in the shade and slept.
No more than an hour had passed when he opened his eyes. Near him the horse dozed.
He got to his feet and, taking the glasses, went back to his former position and
began a new study of the country, realizing that a change in the position of the