Summary
A sun-scorched borderland, where the desert itself seems to collude with greed, becomes the stage for a cosmic jest: a jittery dandy from Manhattan—James Brown, whose pulse flutters at the scrape of a boot—finds himself crowned the town’s savior. Raiders, as relentless as vultures, circle a silver-rich gulch; bullets sing like cicadas; and into this crucible steps a man who jumps at his own reflection. The townsfolk, half-mad with dread, mistake Brown’s tremors for icy resolve, pinning on him the tin star they crave. Meanwhile, the genuine article—Bill Williams, laconic as barbed wire—drifts in the shadows, nursing a busted rib and a grudge, letting the masquerade fester until the pretender’s terror ripens into grit. One botched hanging, a midnight stampede, and a rain of lead later, the coward’s knees steady, the mine’s timbered mouth is barricaded against plunder, and the gang’s velvet-masked chieftain is trussed like a steer at branding time. What lingers is not the clang of victory but the echo of a man who outran his own panic and, for one blistering instant, stood between the desert and its prey.
Synopsis
Repeated raids on a southwestern town by a gang that wishes to appropriate a nearby mine coincide with the arrival of two strangers. James Brown, an easterner, is afraid of his own shadow, but the townspeople believe he is a marshal sent to restore law and order. While looking for an opportunity to escape, James learns that the other visitor, Bill Williams, is the real marshal, and an attempt on James's life spurs him to action. The mine is saved, and the gang leader is brought to justice.
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