In Mustang Man, Louis L’Amour takes Nolan Sackett on a dangerous journey into family betrayal, greed, and murder. When Nolan Sackett met Penelope Hume in a cantina at Borregos Plaza, the girl immediately captured his attention. That she was heir to a lost cache of gold didn’t make her any less desirable. But Penelope isn’t the only one after her grandfather’s treasure; Sylvie, Ralph, and Andrew Karnes, distant relatives with no legal claim to the gold, are obsessed with claiming the Hume fortune for themselves. Their all-consuming sense of entitlement recklessly drives them to ambush and murder. Even if Sackett and Penelope are fortunate enough to escape this deadly trio and find the canyon where the gold is hidden, Indian legend has it that nothing will live there—no birds or insects. They say it is filled with the bones of men. He could outride and outshoot five men, but he was a fool for a lady in distress. The posse was hot on his trail for murder when he took time out to rescue Sylvie from a gang of desperadoes. It wasn't till she'd bushwhacked him with a shotgun and tried to poison him that he realized she was up to no good. And no sooner he had he shot his way out of her clutches than he met Penelope. After he'd heard her sad story, he should have cut and run, but somehow a Sackett never seem s to learn the easy way. Filled with action, adventure, mystery, and historical detail, the Sackett saga is an unforgettable achievement by one of America's greatest storytellers. In Mustang Man, Louis L'Amour tells the tale of a man who lived by his own law-even if it meant being branded an outlaw. Lost gold on the Santa Fe trail. Nolan Sackett was running ahead of a posse when he stopped to help a wagon stuck on the plains. But why was it stranded in the middle of nowhere with a beautiful-and murderous-young woman? Nolan was trying to find out when he ran into Penelope Hume, another attractive lady. She was the key to a cache of gold hidden in the mountains. But to get the rightful heiress there first, Nolan would have to help her beat out jealous relations, paid assassins, and a killer without a conscience... all maddened by gold fever. Filled with action, adventure, mystery, and historical detail, the Sackett saga is an unforgettable achievement by one of America's greatest storytellers. In Mustang Man, Louis L'Amour tells the tale of a man who lived by his own law -- even if it meant being branded an outlaw. LOST GOLD ON THE SANTA FE TRAIL Nolan Sackett was running ahead of a posse when he stopped to help a wagon stuck on the plains. But why was it stranded in the middle of nowhere with a beautiful -- and murderous -- young woman? Nolan was trying to find out when he ran into Penelope Hume, another attractive lady. She was the key to a cache of gold hidden in the mountains. But to get the rightful heiress there first, Nolan would have to help her beat out jealous relations, paid assassins, and a killer without a conscience... all maddened by gold fever. Our foremost storyteller of the American West, Louis L’Amour has 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 One When I came down off the cap rock riding a wind-broken bronc, half of New Mexico must have been trailin' behind me, all ready to shake out a loop for a hanging. Nobody told me I should wait around and get my neck stretched, so when I'd seen them coming my way I just wrapped myself around the nearest horse and taken off down country. Seemed likely those boys would run out of ambition before long, but they must have been mighty shy of entertainment in that gyp-rock country, because they kept a-coming. Me, I hightailed it out of there as fast as that bronc would take me, and for a spell that was pretty fast. Only the bronc had run himself out trying to save my bacon and now I needed myself a fresh horse, or else I'd never need another. About that time I sighted a clump of cottonwoods down on the flat, and cottonwoods spell water in any man's country. Water usually meant there was stock close by, and probably folks. Where there was either there might be a horse. So right then I began building myself a fresh dust cloud behind me, and when I rode up to those trees I was just a-fogging it. Sure enough, there were horses there, and some mighty fine stock, too. So I shook out a loop and dabbed it on a handsome lineback dun with a black mane and tail. Snubbing him to a post, I stepped down and unlatched my saddle and threw it on the dun. I cinched up tight, and was about to climb into the leather when I heard the click of a cocked hammer and froze right where I was. That gun was behind me, but judging by the sound the range was no more than twenty feet; and my ma never raised no foolish papooses. Back there in the Clinch Mountains of Tennessee we boys learned to use guns mighty early, but