Jonathan Trask returns from the war after two hard years in a Yankee hospital and prison camp. Any other man might have been broken, but not Jonathan. His homecoming, too, might have shattered a man of lesser spirit. The Texas cattle kingdom that his father and brothers had built up had deteriorated: his father a drunk, his mother dead, the ranch a shambles, and the girl he loved married to his brother. But Jonathan was strong and iron-willed; with sheer force and energy he rebuilt his empire against a band of professional rustlers, against the inevitable breakup of his family. Yet behind this man who was so ruthless and domineering, was a slight gent whose soft-spoken way with the law would be the ultimate power in saving Trask from his own worst enemy—himself.