Deputy Marshal Mason Barker is worn out and done in. He may have a good heart and a good wife to come home to - but all is not well on the homestead in Mesilla. Money is sparse, his son is a bum, and his back is giving out after years in the saddle. He's getting too old to chase down owlhoots, especially the gang of bandidos terrorizing the New Mexico Territory. And when the bandidos threaten his own town, Marshal Barker must spring into action.