This was the climax; the end of a lifetime of bitterness and hate--Rusty
Maxwell and Ben Sharp, both grown old, grizzled, and rich; one the owner
of a barbed-wire empire, a sea of grass larger than some Eastern states;
the other risen to great political power, ruthlessly scheming to break
the man with whom he had clashed ever since both had driven their
longhorn herds over the trail to Dodge.
To cut that empire in two, to bring its over-lord to his knees, had long
been Ben Sharp's purpose. And in the South Western Pacific Railroad he
found a weapon admirably forged to accomplish this end. But Rusty
Maxwell, for all his years, had not forgotten how to fight; nor had
Lance Kincaid, the fledgling eagle he had reared, if not sired.
Here is the last-stand fight between the valiant Old West, bred to the
plains and the saddle, fearless, a six-shooter the tool of its trade;
and the raw, dollar-driven progress of the New. Lance Kincaid was
certain of his position, the issues clear-cut in his mind, until proud,
smiling Valerie Pickett reached the end-of-steel in her father's
construction car.
In a novel that catches the soul of the windswept plains, Will Ermine
has painted a canvas of historic action and drama which far exceeds the
dimensions and depth of the usual cowboy story. Its tense, gripping
reality strikes a singular note in Western fiction.
