Two years in prison had changed Vern Balance from an easy-going drifter with a liking for cards and liquor, to a hard, bitter man. Still, trouble was the last thing he was looking for as he rode to the town of Ellsworth to collect an old debt that could help him start over. But trouble was what he found in that dusty Kansas cowtown where falling beef prices and border rivalries had inflamed resentments between the drovers and corrupt town officials. It occurs to Vern that violence may be as hard to escape as the memory of his time in prison. D. B. Newton was one of the founders of the Western Writers of America, and has applied his considerable talents and authoritative knowledge of the Old West to films, and to television in such series as "Death Valley Days" and "Wagon Train."