Peter returns from college to his father's ranch after an accident has left him physically crippled but not without ability or enterprise.

Francisco Valdez arrives in Spanish California to marry Ortiza Tarabal, but she falls in love with his slave, El Rojo.

In "Speedy's Desert Dance" a young drifter runs into trouble after overhearing two outlaws plan a murder and kidnapping. A gripping story set during the War Between the States. "A Watch in the Wilderness" finds Marse Roberts' company in a trench as a sharpshooter in a tree above starts to shoot them, one by one. "The Good Badman" is Ed Garver, known in the ring as Kid Denver. It was hard luck that finished his fighting career, and that hard luck seems...

Peter Dunstan is a big rancher who wants to become bigger, to control more land. So when he buys Dr. Henry Morgan's ranchland that has been unsuccessfully converted to farming, it is his intention to return it to open range. The only stipulation the doctor makes is that Dunstan must retain Sandy Sweyn, who has more or less been Dr. Morgan's ward. Though the man is of age, he is generally considered a half-wit, even by the doctor. Still, Sandy has...

"The house on the hill in Merridan belonged to Captain Slocum. It was regarded as a house of mystery, and it was protected by dogs that ran the grounds at night and armed men who allowed no visitors, even when the captain was away from the house, which he often was. At just twelve years old, Don Grier braved the terrors of the captain's domain to steal a watermelon - a feat that made him a local hero. Don lives with his mean-spirited Aunt Lizzie,...

"Newcomer David Duval is secretive about his past and Marian Lane is determined to discover what he is hiding. When she enlists the aid of the famous manhunter, Marshal Richard Kinkaid, a dangerous game of matching wits between Duval and Kinkaid begins"--

A trio of Western stories. In the title story, Chuck Neilan, who has struck it rich, buys an emerald ring from a pawnbroker. Curiosity drives him to find the original owner and in this way he meets Kate Harvey whose ranch is being ruined by a bandit. Agency"--Title page verso.

"In three western stories, men risk their hero status in the community in order for truth to prevail"--

"A young man with a bad reputation and many aliases helps a rancher in his battle with a clan of rustlers"--