Chapter 1 Summary

Walter Van Tilburg Clark is a critically acclaimed author of three novels who, although born in Maine, has always been considered a Westerner by his fans.

Gil Carter and Art Croft return to the city of Bridger's Wells, Nevada after a long winter watching over a herd of cows. The men stop first at the local saloon, a small place owned by a man named Canby. Gil and Art are happy to have someone new to talk to after spending the entire winter with only one another's company. Gil immediately asks after Rose Mapen, a young woman he considered his girlfriend when he left in the fall. Gil is disappointed to learn that Rose left town a few weeks before, apparently run out by the other women in town who were threatened by her presence. Gil takes this news hard, drowning himself in...