This collection of six exciting Western stories from early in Louis L'Amour's career begins with "Fork Your Own Broncs," in which Mac Marcy, who had saved for seven years to run his own small cattle ranch, sees his dream come true, only to have it threatened by Jingle Bob Kenyon. In "Keep Travelin', Rider," Tack Gentry returns to Sunbonnet and his uncle's G Bar Ranch only to find that his uncle, a Quaker, has been killed in a gunfight. A faction...

Left to die by his vengeful grandfather, rescued by outlaws, and raised by Native Americans, Johannes Verne is strengthened by his love for two women and his ambition to survive on the Palm Springs desert.

After the massacre Hardy and Betty Sue were left with only a horse and a knife with which to face the long battle against the wilderness. A seven-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, stranded on the limitless prairie. They were up against starvation, marauding Indians, savage outlaws, and wild animals. They were mighty stubborn, but the odds were against them-and their luck was about to run out.

Abandoned at four, card sharp at eight, and now full of experiences, Val Darrant owes his life to Will Reilly, a gambling man, and when Will is shot, Val is forced to revisit his own past to discover what happened.

Flagon and Galloway Sackett were just looking for a place to start ranching. They found a big, wide, lonely country and, at first, plenty of room. Then Bull Dunn and his two sons decided they wanted it all. When the battle for possession of the land began, Flagon was already in bad shape. He had been taken by Apache Indians, and by the time he escaped, just surviving left him in no condition for any kind of trouble. Bull Dunn's son, Curly, was determined...

"On the rain-drenched trail to the lawless town of Seven Pines, Hopalong discovers two men -- one dead, the other badly wounded. Returning with medical help, Hopalong finds the wounded man has been shot through the temple. Who would commit such a murder? To find out, Hopalong hires on at Bob Ronson's Rocking R Ranch. There he learns that more than a thousand cattle have been run off by men keeping one scheming eye on the ranch and the other on the...

A broad shouldered and hearty Irishman is headed for a job laying track at the the end of the line. His plans are changed when trouble finds him at a railroad station somewhere on the plains.

Matt Brennan inherits a ranch from a murdered man and must use his well-practiced gunfighting skills to keep it.

Tom Chantry came from the East to buy cattle and get them to the railroad. He was a peaceful man, but when a group of local outlaws mistook him for a victim, there was lead to pay.

Milo Talon hunts a man who has betrayed a trust with his kin, the Sacketts and the Talons.