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The Big Drive
(1974)(The second book in the Rancho Bravo series)
A novel by Thorne Douglas (Ben Haas)
The brainchild of Amazon Kindle bestselling western writers Mike Stotter and Ben Bridges, PICCADILLY PUBLISHING is dedicated to issuing classic fiction from Yesterday and Today!
THE BIG DRIVE
He charged among them, rifle empty now and thrown aside, Starr six-shooters drawn. A Lipan came at him, holding neither gun nor bow, but a long-bladed lance, putting his mount straight at Gannon's, his objective to slam his horse into the Steel Dust while he skewered Gannon with the spear. Gannon thumbed two shots-the first missed; the second caught the Lipan's horse and knocked it down. The Indian landed running, made for Gannon with lance out, ready to ram it in the Steel Dust's belly. Gannon fired again, blew the man's face apart, and rode over him as he went down.
Turning in the saddle he saw an Indian bearing down from the other flank. He fired and never knew whether he hit or missed, but the threat vanished; then, somehow, he was through their line. Ahead of them; and now they were chasing him, and the circle of dead horses was only a hundred yards away, still sprouting white flowers of gun smoke as at least two Hussars fired at the Lipans, and the blot of red was still moving there, still alive. Gannon's heart lifted, and he let out an exultant yell.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Benjamin Leopold Haas was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1926. His imagination was inspired by the stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction as told by his Grandmother, who had lived through both. Largely self educated, he wrote his first story, a pulp short for a western magazine, when he was just eighteen.
A prolific writer who would eventually pen some 130 books under his own and a variety of pen-names, Ben wrote almost twenty-four hours a day. "I tried to write 5000 words or more every day, scrupulous in maintaining authenticity," he later said.
Ben wanted to be a mainstream writer, but needed a way to finance himself between serious books, and so he became a paperback writer. Ben's early pen names include Ben Elliott (his grandmother's maiden name), who wrote Westerns for Ace; and Sam Webster, who wrote five books for Monarch. As Ken Barry he turned out racy paperback originals for Beacon with titles like The Love Itch and Executive Boudoir. The success of his Fargo series led to the Sundance books. The short-lived John Cutler series followed, and then perhaps Ben's crowning achievement, the Rancho Bravo novels, published under the name Thorne Douglas.
Ben Haas died from a heart attack in New York City after attending a Literary Guild dinner in 1977. He was just fifty-one.
Genre: Western
THE BIG DRIVE
He charged among them, rifle empty now and thrown aside, Starr six-shooters drawn. A Lipan came at him, holding neither gun nor bow, but a long-bladed lance, putting his mount straight at Gannon's, his objective to slam his horse into the Steel Dust while he skewered Gannon with the spear. Gannon thumbed two shots-the first missed; the second caught the Lipan's horse and knocked it down. The Indian landed running, made for Gannon with lance out, ready to ram it in the Steel Dust's belly. Gannon fired again, blew the man's face apart, and rode over him as he went down.
Turning in the saddle he saw an Indian bearing down from the other flank. He fired and never knew whether he hit or missed, but the threat vanished; then, somehow, he was through their line. Ahead of them; and now they were chasing him, and the circle of dead horses was only a hundred yards away, still sprouting white flowers of gun smoke as at least two Hussars fired at the Lipans, and the blot of red was still moving there, still alive. Gannon's heart lifted, and he let out an exultant yell.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Benjamin Leopold Haas was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1926. His imagination was inspired by the stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction as told by his Grandmother, who had lived through both. Largely self educated, he wrote his first story, a pulp short for a western magazine, when he was just eighteen.
A prolific writer who would eventually pen some 130 books under his own and a variety of pen-names, Ben wrote almost twenty-four hours a day. "I tried to write 5000 words or more every day, scrupulous in maintaining authenticity," he later said.
Ben wanted to be a mainstream writer, but needed a way to finance himself between serious books, and so he became a paperback writer. Ben's early pen names include Ben Elliott (his grandmother's maiden name), who wrote Westerns for Ace; and Sam Webster, who wrote five books for Monarch. As Ken Barry he turned out racy paperback originals for Beacon with titles like The Love Itch and Executive Boudoir. The success of his Fargo series led to the Sundance books. The short-lived John Cutler series followed, and then perhaps Ben's crowning achievement, the Rancho Bravo novels, published under the name Thorne Douglas.
Ben Haas died from a heart attack in New York City after attending a Literary Guild dinner in 1977. He was just fifty-one.
Genre: Western
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