"Thunder and Lightning" is the story of two men, Soapy Almayer and Jimmy Clarges. When they go to work in a lumber camp, their extraordinary strength and the speed that they work leads to their being called Thunder and Lightning. Then one man, afeaid to fight either, is crafty enough to use Rosita Alvarado to cause them to fight each other ... to the death."Legend of the Golden Coyote" is the story of a wild coyote, known far and wide for his unusual golden coat. Crafty and ferocious, he will confront even a timber wolf. But he also has a special relationship with a man and his daughter: the girl loves him and the man has spared his life when he might have killed him. When a terrible forest fire threatens them all, the golden coyote faces the painful choice between saving one of his own offspring and leading the human to safety.

A classic Western with all of the favorites—danger, murder, criminals, and gunfights! At twenty-two, John Signal is old enough to have been in a shooting scrape. It was a fair fight, but the man he killed was well-connected. Fleeing Signal arrives in the mining town of Monument, calling himself John Alias. Almost immediately his horse is stolen. He learns the name of the thief, Sam Langley, and even where he is. Sheriff Peter Ogden, rather than pursuing the thief, Alias he will make him a deputy if he succeeds in retrieving his horse. Alias manages to get his horse back, but not without violence. Sheriff Ogden makes good on his promise while explaining the local power structure. The Bone faction is behind most of the crimes in the district. On the other side is Town Marshal Fitzgerald Eagan, his brothers, and consumptive gambler and gunman Major Paul Harkness. Of the two, Sheriff Ogden is partial to the Bones faction and advises Alias to follow suit. But Alias is...

Three thrilling tales from one of the masters of frontier fiction!In “Paradise Al," Brand tells the first of two stories about Paradise Al, a drifter and rambler who has been riding the rails when he jumps off a passenger train just outside of town. He's caught and thrown in jail, but his resemblance to the Pendletons, a local family, gets him out. Suddenly Al is caught in the middle of the Pendletons' long-standing feud with the Draytons, another local clan that has a wild, untamed stallion and has boasted it will give the horse to anyone who can ride him. Paradise Al, clearly a novice when it comes to horses, takes up the challenge, with two conditions: he gets to keep the horse on the Pendleton Ranch for a week and he gets to marry young Molly Drayton.“Paradise Al's Confession" is another chapter in the saga of Paradise Al, masquerading as Al Pendleton. He's now planning on marrying Molly Drayton and is busy at work starting up a ranch when an...

The orphaned son of an infamous outlaw is chosen to inherit a wealthy ranch, but not if the ranch owner's jealous brother exposes the boy's true heritage!Black Jack Hollis was a daring outlaw before he was shot down. In the wake of his death, it's discovered that Hollis left behind an infant son. Elizabeth Cornish, co-owner of the Cornish Ranch alongside her brother, Vance, takes it upon herself to raise the child as her own.Elizabeth names the boy Terry Colby and gives Terry a fictitious aristocratic background, believing the way the boy is raised will determine the man he will become. But Vance is convinced that Terry is destined to become an outlaw himself, and that it will be impossible to overcome the lawlessness that runs in his blood.Vance only cares for the finer things in life, and he believes that his sister will leave the prosperous ranch to him when she dies. However, Elizabeth informs her brother that on Terry's twenty-fifth birthday, he will...

Major Arthur Marston had marked Rusty Sabin as his enemy. The red-haired white leader of the Cheyennes owned White Horse, the great stallion, and he had won the love of Maisry Lester. The prettiest girl and the swiftest horse on the plains — and these the Major thought should belong to him, not to Rusty, the man the Indians called Red Hawk. Then Rusty forced him to release a prisoner, a thief who had once saved Rusty's life. Enraged by this humiliation, Marston led his troops out across the prairie, determined to destroy his enemy.And so the stage was set for a showdown between the two men — Marston, the treacherous Indian fighter who swore he would write his name in Cheyenne blood, and Red Hawk, the adopted son of a Cheyenne chief.

He was still a young man, but he'd used that handful of years effectively, building a bad reputation that spanned the West, his villainy taking different forms everywhere it took roost. Denver knew him as the Doctor; Texans called him Montana; and folks in Idaho called him Texas. On account of his youth, most everywhere else called him the Lonesome Kid.But when he finally gets arrested for vagrancy, he tells the sheriff his name is Alfred Lamb. Will that identity stick when he tries to help a rancher battle off a pack of cattle rustlers?With a lengthy career in pulps, comics, and early cinema, and with over two hundred full-length Western novels to his credit, including Destry Rides Again and Montana Rides and the iconic Dr. Kildare series, Max Brand's action-filled stories of adventure and heroism in the American West continue to entertain readers throughout the world.

From legendary Western author Max Brand comes a tale of covert espionage, gold, and a mysterious figure on horseback.In this dramatic and strange story, Lefty Bill Ranger, an Alaskan mail carrier, travels to Circle City through a terrific snowstorm. There he meets Menneval—a man who is widely feared throughout the territory—and is offered a job. He is to go to Tuckerville, California, and from there to the mountain fastness where Peter Crosson and his son, Oliver, live in total isolation. Menneval wants Ranger to watch and report what he sees for a period of six months. The pay for this espionage will be $6,000 in gold. Ranger, attracted by the money, accepts the assignment.In the Sierra Mountains, Ranger sets up his camp and, pretending to be a trapper, keeps the Crosson ranch under surveillance. One day, Ranger is amazed to witness a gigantic mountain lion being pursued by a pack of wolves and followed by a bronzed youth on horseback. The wolf pack...

Peter Dunstan is a big rancher who wants to become bigger, to control more land. So when he buys Dr. Henry Morgan's ranchland that has been unsuccessfully converted to farming, it is his intention to return it to open range. The only stipulation the doctor makes is that Dunstan must retain Sandy Sweyn, who has more or less been Dr. Morgan's ward. Though the man is of age, he is generally considered a half-wit, even by the doctor. Still, Sandy has a fabulous gift: he can communicate with animals. The most refractory and savage bronco will yield to his subtly persuasive methods even when expert horse breakers have failed. After Sandy gentles the totally recalcitrant gelding that Dunstan has been trying to break to the reins, he claims that his mare, Cleo, though used only for drudgery, could easily outrun the gelding in a race. Dunstan is so contemptuous of this boast that he bets $5,000 and ownership of the gelding if he loses the race. As it turns out, Cleo readily wins. Rather...

Unlikely hero Sammy Gregg has never met a challenge he won't face head on, but he hasn't met outlaw Chester Furness!Born in Brooklyn, Sammy Gregg is small in stature and naive to the ways of the world, yet headstrong and resolute to save enough money to marry Susie Mitchell. Gregg calculates that he needs $15‚000 and figures he can earn enough in six months out west. Although he is a small man who knows nothing of fighting‚ guns‚ or horses‚ he takes his $5‚000 in savings and heads west‚ arriving in Munson‚ a tough, lawless town.With his unwavering determination, Gregg finds a few good-paying jobs, but every time he runs up against Chester Furness, a fellow newcomer to Munson. But unlike Gregg, Furness runs a gang that steals horses, robs stagecoaches, and makes life hard for Sammy Gregg.To make good on his word and return to New York with enough savings to start a new life with Susie‚ Gregg will have to face off...

“Prairie Pawn" tells the story of Paul Torridon, called White Thunder by the Cheyenne Indians holding him hostage. They believe that he cured Whistling Elk's son from a menacing illness and brought rain when others had failed to do so. Though Paul has been rewarded with many riches, he still seems unhappy, and the Cheyenne chief decides to undertake a dangerous mission to kidnap Torridon's sweetheart, Nancy Brett, from Fort Kendry. The Cheyennes believe that will make White Thunder happy enough to voluntarily stay with them.In the title story, “The Steel Box," Lew Sherry and Pete Lang accept an offer they simply can't resist. Oliver Wilton is willing to pay the cowboys $1,000 a day for ten days to protect him from danger that has him living in a state of terror. A seafaring man has arrived at the inn in town and has made no secret of the fact that he's come to settle a score with Wilton. In the meantime, Wilton's niece, for whom he manages a half-million dollar...

Young Jim Curry's father is killed unjustly by an enraged mob, and the boy barely escapes the same fate. He shoots two pursuers and assumes they are dead, and in desperation becomes a most unusual outlaw, the Red Devil. He never kills, takes only ill-gained money, secretly returns it to the rightful owners, and escapes every pursuit on his remarkable horse, Meg.Spoiled Charlie Mark has left home to seek thrills and easy money. He vows to find the Red Devil and discover why he is so merciful and so particular about his victims. Charlie trails Meg's hoof prints to the hideout and convinces Jim to switch roles—but the new Red Devil becomes addicted to the excitement of robbing and killing. When will retribution catch up with Charlie? Can anyone save him? And where is Jim Curry?This trio of stories about the life and destiny of Jim Curry is vintage Max Brand! His Western stories are considered among the best in the genre and have been translated into every major...

A lazy drifter's life is forever changed after riding a wild bronco in the local rodeo.