Mustang

The main character of Louis L’Amour’s western “Mustang” is Nolan Sackett, one of a large family scattered across America. As he himself says: “The Sacketts of Clinch Mountains are a kind and peace-loving people, though simpler and poorer than the Sacketts of Cumberland or the plains.” Nolan has a bad reputation and is considered a criminal, even though his only “crime” is that he can draw a revolver faster than his opponent. One day, hiding from lynchers and borrowing a splendid mustang from the owner of the herd, he finds in the desert a discarded wagon with a beautiful woman and her two companions. Forgetting the proverb “Don’t do good and you won’t get evil,” he returns the stolen horses to the travelers—nearly paying for it with his life. Back in town, at the innkeeper’s request, Nolan decides to help a young girl traveling with a friend of her father, not knowing that they are looking for a lost caravan with gold. In this search, fate will link him again with the wagon owners, their thief-guide, and the owner of the mustang.