El Paso was ready for trouble, as Ranger undercover agent Walt Slade found when he rode in — and was nearly gunned down by quick-triggered citizens, suspicious of any stranger. For a stranger might be one of the dreaded Starlight Riders, who raided and burned from their mysterious mountain hideout, threatening to destroy the Texan ranchers and farmers who refused to pay "protection money." In his role of the "outlaw" El Halcon, Slade prowled the Border Hills and the back streets of El Paso, hunting the Riders' brilliant mastermind — and keeping his hands close to his guns, because when the Ranger and his quarry met it would be time for gunsmoke talk!