Bess Barstow had been born and raised in the rough, wild country of the far west. John Barstow owned one of the largest ranches in the territory, and he had brought up his only child, Bess, as he would have brought up a son. She could out-ride and out-shoot any many on the spread, and fear was something she knew little about. Bess Barstow was tall and mannish in manner and speech, and though a few years of schooling in the east had given her a certain polish, it was something which she assumed only on occasion. It was late afternoon when Bess and Terry, the ranch foreman, were returning to the big ranch house after a trip to town. As they turned off the trail and rode along the road leading to the ranch house, Bess and Terry were startled by the sound of distant shooting. They quickly reached for their guns and raced along the trail as fast as their horses could take them...