Wells Fargo manager John Curtis has called Jim Hardie in to investigate a man, Charley Mason, he had hired to ride shotgun on stage runs. Curtis was impressed by Mason's wife even though Mason had no references. Mason was wearing a belt buckle that eventually reminded Curtis of a similar belt buckle that Old Man Bostwick and his three sons wore. They were cattle rustlers down in Texas. The cattlemen had shifted the shipment of money to Wells Fargo. If Mason is one of the Bostwick boys, his job would be the perfect cover for learning about shipments. Hardie decides to first visit Mason's wife in Knight's Landing. He is impressed by her and her home. They have only been married four months and her dad was a traveling minister. They met at his camp meetings. Hardie decides to return to the Bostwick grounds at the Long Horn Saloon in Bodie, Texas posing as a writer. He finds the Bostwicks but it is not a friendly meeting. However, he still has a good sense about Charley but he too, proves elusive as a big shipment out of Laramie Mason will be protecting is coming up..
—Anonymous