PAPERBACK ORIGINAL FIRST EDITION, Dell #A148, published October 1957. First Printing, so stated "DELL FIRST EDITION", no previous hardcover. Cover "Will Speer had returned from the dead - staying alive wasn't going to be easy.” Front cover illustration by Sam Bates. Original 25 cover price. Paperback, 192 pages, 16 cm.
Peter is the pen name of author Jonathan Hurff Glidden. He was born in Kewanee, Illinois, in 1907, and studied English literature at the University of Illinois. In his career as a Western author, Glidden published sixteen Western novels and over one hundred and twenty short novels and short stories for the magazine market. His first novel, The Crimson Horseshow, won the Dodd, Mead Prize as the 1941 Best Western of the Year. He died in 1957.
Note: "Peter Dawson" was also a pen name used by Frederick Faust (better known another of his pen names, Max Brand). Care should be taken when attributing books.
Will Sheer comes home after two years to learn everyone thought him dead. Scalped and killed by Indians the papers had said. He also found that his partner in the stage line, Ned Oakes, had a new partner, Lyle Danko, a gambler, who'd supposedly invested five grand for half.
Turns out that wasn't exactly true. Ned owed Danko the monery in poker losses amd was coering Ned to tell him when the gold shipments were going out. Blackmail was also involved as Ned was carrying on with a young widow in the next town, cheating on his fiance Caroline Knight, the banker's daughter.
But no one knows about the under the table deals but Ned and Danko.
It doesn't take Will long to get his half back as Danko claims the five grand was never spent and he would gladly back out of the deal. Of coursde he still had that other deal with Ned.
Will has to figure another way to get the gold out as the rail bridge had washed and gold was piling up in the bank. Too many shady men in town to not try the bank with that amount of gold, some seventy grand.