The Trail to Seven Pines A Novel [Paperback]

Hopalong rides into a firestorm of violence and  betrayal. On the rain-drenched trail to the  lawless town of Seven Pines, Hopalong discovers two men—one dead, the other badly wounded. Returning  with medical help, Hopalong finds the wounded man  has been shot through the temple. Who would  commit such a murder? To find out, Hopalong hires on  at Bob Ronson's Rocking R Ranch. There he learns  that more than a thousand cattle have been run off  by men keeping one scheming eye on the ranch and  the other on the monthly stagecoach shipments of  gold. Hopalong is determined to stop those  responsible. But even the best gunfighter needs men he  can trust to watch his back, men willing to risk  their lives to do what's right. With their help,  Hopalong fights to save the Rocking R, only to  find himself the target of a ruthless gunman in a life-and-death struggle for frontier justice.Our foremost storyteller of the American West,Louis L’Amourhas thrilled a nation by chronicling the adventures of the brave men and woman who settled the frontier. There are more than three hundred million copies of his books in print around the world.Chapter 1
 
TWO DEAD MEN
 
Hopalong Cassidy stopped his white gelding on the bald backbone of the ridge. No soil covered the windswept sandstone, only a few gnarled cedars that seemed, as is their way, to draw nourishment from the very rock itself. In this last hour before sunset the air was of startling clarity, so much so that objects upon the mountainside across the valley stood out, clearly defined as though but a few yards away instead of as many miles.
 
Where he sat the sun was bright, but in the west, which was his direction, towering masses of cumulus piled to majestic heights, dwarfing the mountains to insignificance. The crests of the mlS2