It was a hot, summer in Spanish Flat, and Marshal Jeremy Six figured on the usual amount of trouble: liqored-up miners, brawls between farmers and cowhands, and a couple of scraps over girls or cards.

Until Ben Sarasen rode into town...

Something ugly was brewing and the mood of the town reflected it. Where Sarasen walked, so did trouble. And yet Jeremy couldn't help respecting the man ... almost liking him. But he knew that Oakley Madden's bunch were ripe to start something, and, if so, Sarasen was pretty sure to be involved in it.

Then, Jeremy knew, there would have to be a showdown – and either he or Saracen wouldn't come out of it alive.