On a sun-baked mesa road in New Mexico, a formidable prospector named Mehitabel Crump rescues a gaunt, starving man from the dust—a onetime stage actor named Thaddeus Roscius Shea, brought low by whiskey and despair. Against all odds, she takes him on as a partner and drags him out to the remote badlands to work a valuable mineral claim she has quietly staked.
But Shea’s first trip to town ends in catastrophe when a cunning store owner slips liquor into his glass and tricks information out of him, setting a scheming mine-jumper named Sandy Mackintavers on their trail. With Mrs. Crump arrested on a technicality and the claim left unguarded, Shea must face his own weakness, the long reach of Mackintavers’ hired muscle, and the brutal New Mexico wilderness—with nothing but an axe helve and an awakening sense of purpose to carry him through.
First serialized in 1919 and published in book form in 1920, this rugged, character-driven adventure showcases Bedford-Jones at the height of his powers, blending sharply observed Southwestern landscape with a genuine story of redemption and grit.
