Charles Merritt and his war buddy, Will Durant, have just started their spread in Arizona Territory when Will takes sick. Charles gets Will to the train to Tucson but only has the fare for one, so he follows the track on horseback. Under a railroad water tank, he finds Will dead, shot in the chest. After burying his friend, Charles Merritt sets out on a journey of revenge, swearing to gun down the polecat who killed his friend. Through a series of events that are beyond his control, he meets beautiful Elizabeth McAllister and falls in love with her. He doesn't tell her, but he has vowed that he will marry her as soon as his partner is avenged. Eventually the young cowboy has to decide between his love for Elizabeth or his cold blooded lust for revenge. A dizzying tale of hard riding and hard shooting, this first time Western by PI novelist Don Yarber, falls in line with mystery and suspense but with the action and scenery of old time Western novelists like Zane Grey and Luke Short.