The Untamed by Max Brand MP3 Audiobook

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The Untamed by Max Brand
1949 Whistlin' Dan Barry was slight, but with something more of wolf than of man in him…

Product Code: 232

Digital Audiobook -- in stock

US$9.95

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All works by Max Brand

Availability: Usually ships within 48 hours. Ships from and sold by Babblebooks.com.

Running time: 7 hr 9 min

The unabridged classic on MP3 audio, narrated by Anais 9000. Three playback speeds on one disk; etext edition included. Running time: 7.2 hours (slow), 6.5 hours (medium), 6.0 hours (fast).

Chapter I Pan of the Desert

Even to a high-flying bird this was a country to be passed over quickly. It was burned and brown, littered with fragments of rock, whether vast or small, as if the refuse were tossed here after the making of the world. A passing shower drenched the bald knobs of a range of granite hills and the slant morning sun set the wet rocks aflame with light. In a short time the hills lost their halo and resumed their brown. The moisture evaporated. The sun rose higher and looked sternly across the desert as if he searched for any remaining life which still struggled for existence under his burning curse.

And he found life. Hardy cattle moved single or in small groups and browsed on the withered bunch grass. Summer scorched them, winter humped their backs with cold and arched up their bellies with famine, but they were a breed schooled through generations for this fight against nature. In this junk-shop of the world, rattlesnakes were rulers of the soil. Overhead the buzzards, ominous black specks pendant against the white-hot sky, ruled the air.

It seemed impossible that human beings could live in this rock-wilderness. If so, they must be to other men what the lean, hardy cattle of the hills are to the corn-fed stabled beeves of the States.

Over the shoulder of a hill came a whistling which might have been attributed to the wind, had not this day been deathly calm. It was fit music for such a scene, for it seemed neither of heaven nor earth, but the soul of the great god Pan come back to earth to charm those nameless rocks with his wild, sweet piping. It changed to harmonious phrases loosely connected. Such might be the exultant improvisations of a master violinist.

A great wolf, or a dog as tall and rough coated as a wolf, trotted around the hillside. He paused with one foot lifted and lolling, crimson tongue, as he scanned the distance and then turned to look back in the direction from which he had come. The weird music changed to whistled notes as liquid as a flute. The sound drew closer. A horseman rode out on the shoulder and checked his mount. One could not choose him at first glance as a type of those who fight nature in a region where the thermometer moves through a scale of a hundred and sixty degrees in the year to an accompaniment of cold-stabbing winds and sweltering suns. A thin, handsome face with large brown eyes and black hair, a body tall but rather slenderly made--he might have been a descendant of some ancient family of Norman nobility; but could such proud gentry be found riding the desert in a tall-crowned sombrero with chaps on his legs and a red bandana handkerchief knotted around his throat? That first glance made the rider seem strangely out of place in such surroundings. One might even smile at the contrast, but at the second glance the smile would fade, and at the third, it would be replaced with a stare of interest. It was impossible to tell why one respected this man, but after a time there grew a suspicion of unknown strength in this lone rider, strength like that of a machine which is stopped but only needs a spark of fire to plunge it into irresistible action. Strangely enough, the youthful figure seemed [...]

"sure" said whisting dan "anything i can"

there's a skunk down there with a bad eye an' a gun that jumps out of its leather like it had a mind of its own he picked me for fifty bucks by nailing a dollar i tossed up at twenty yards then he gets a hundred because i couldn't ride this hoss of his which he's made a plumb fool of me dan now i was tellin' him about you--maybe i was sort of exaggeratin'--an' i said you could have your back turned when coins was tossed an' then pick off four dollars before they hit ground i made it a bit high dan"

his eyes were wistful

"nick four round boys before they hit dust" said dan "maybe i could i don't know i can't try it anyway morgan because i told dad cumberland i'd never pull a gun while there was a crowd aroun'"

morgan sighed he hesitated and then "but you promised you'd do me a favour dan"

rider started

"i forgot about that--i didn't think----"

"it's only to do a shootin' trick" said morgan eagerly "it ain't pullin' a gun on any one why lad if you'll tell me you got a ghost of a chance i'll bet every cent in my cash drawer on you agin that skunk you've give me your word dan"

whistling dan shrugged his shoulders

"i've given you my word" he said "an' i'll do it but i guess dad cumberland'll be mighty sore on me"

a laugh rose from crowd at morgan's place which they were nearing rapidly it was like a mocking comment on dan's speech as they came closer they could see money changing hands in all directions

"what'd you do to my hoss" asked jim silent walking out to meet them

"he hypnotized him" said hal purvis and his lips twisted over yellow teeth into a grin of satisfaction

"git out of saddle damn quick" growled silent "it ain't nacheral he'd let you ride him like he was a plough-hoss an' if you've tried any fancy stunts i'll----"

"take it easy" said purvis as dan slipped from saddle without showing slightest anger "take it easy you're a bum loser when i seen black settle down to his work" he explained to dan with another grin "i knowed he'd nail him in end an' i staked twenty on you agin my friend here that was sure a slick change of hosses you made"

there were other losers money chinked on all sides to an accompaniment of laughter and curses jim silent was examining roan with a scowl while bill kilduff and hal purvis approached satan to look over his points purvis reached out towards bridle when a murderous snarl at his feet made him jump back with a shout he stood with his gun poised facing black bart

"who's got any money to bet this damn wolf lives more'n five seconds" he said savagely

"i have" said dan

"who in hell are you what d'you mean by trailing this man-killer around"

he turned to dan with his gun still poised

"bart ain't a killer" said dan and gentleness of his voice was oil on troubled waters "but he gets peeved when a stranger comes nigh to hoss"

"all right this time" said purvis slowly restoring his gun to its holster "but if this wolf of yours looks cross-eyed at me agin he'll hit long trail that ain't got any end savvy"

"sure" said dan and his soft brown eyes smiled placatingly

purvis kept his right hand close to butt of his gun and his eyes glinted as if he expected an answer somewhat stronger than words at this mild acquiescence he turned away sneering silent having discovered that he could find no fault with dan's treatment of his horse now approached with an ominously thin-lipped smile lee haines read his face and came to his side with a whisper "better cut out rough stuff jim this chap hasn't hurt anything but your cash and he's already taken water from purvis i guess there's no call for you to make any play"

"shut your face haines" responded silent in same tone "he's made a fool of me by showin' up my hoss an' by god i'm goin' to give him a man-handlin' he'll never forgit"

he whirled on morgan

"how about it bar-keep is this dead shot you was spillin' so many words about"

dan as if he could not understand broad insult merely smiled at him with marvellous good nature

"keep away from him stranger" warned morgan "jest because he rode your hoss you ain't got a cause to hunt trouble with him he's been taught not to fight"

silent still looking dan over with insolent eyes replied "he sure sticks to his daddy's lessons nice an' quiet an' house broke ain't he in my part of country they dress this kind of a man in gal's clothes so's nobody'll ever get sore at him an' spoil his pretty face better go home to your ma this ain't any place for you they's men aroun' here"

there was another one of those grimly expectant hushes and then a general guffaw dan showed no inclination to take offence he merely stared at brawny jim silent with a short of childlike wonder

"all right" he said meekly "if i ain't wanted around here i figger there ain't any cause why i should stay you don't figger to be peeved at me do you"

laughter changed to a veritable yell of delight even silent smiled with careless contempt

"no kid" he answered "if i was peeved at you you'd learn it without askin' questions"

he turned slowly away

"maybe i got jaundice boys" he said to crowd "but it seems to me i see something kind of yellow around here"

delightful subtlety of this remark roused another side-shaking burst of merriment dan shook his head as if mystery were beyond his comprehension and looked to morgan for an explanation saloon-keeper approached him struggling with a grin

"it's all right dan" he said "don't let 'em rile you"

"you ain't got any cause to fear that" said silent "because it can't be done"

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