Savage desert a Western duo
(Book)

The Killer in Him: Ross McNaul works for the Circle Dot Ranch. Knowledge of a terrible secret concerning his nine-year-old son has been used by Ernest Pfarr, foreman of the ranch, to secure Ross's help in rustling the ranch stock. Now the owner of the ranch is coming West and Pfarr wants the rest of the cattle to be abandoned to the fury of a blizzard so that he can acquire the ranch himself for a fraction of what it is worth. Ross doesn't want to go along with Pfarr, but fear of what will happen to his son if he doesn't convinces him that he has no choice.

Savage Desert finds Sam Duke crossing a wasteland with the freight wagon train he owns with his brother, Claude. After riding ahead in search of water, he returns to the train only to find the wagons and teams gone and his brother and the teamsters dead. After burying the men, Sam follows the tracks left by the killers. It is hard going, but guided by buzzards in the air he finally finds the wagons stripped of their cargo and the animals slaughtered. Obviously the freight was transferred to other wagons and taken away, and from the looks of the wagon and animal graveyard, this has been an ongoing operation for the murderous thieves. But they had made a mistake this time, and he was determined to make them pay for it with their lives.