Here are two of the finest short novels of one of Western fiction’s classic writers.

The title story finds the Deerfoot Stage Line harassed by a gang of outlaws trying to loot local miners’ gold dust. Facing ruin, the line’s owner has no choice but to hire a driver who’s been ostracized by every other line in the area.

In Barbed Wire, Jim Lance tries to occupy a homestead he won in a poker game. But Ed Nugent, a big ranger and chairman of the County Commissioners, has no intention of letting Jim stay on the land. If he can’t burn Jim out, he’ll resort to legal trickery. But Jim’s determined and he’ll fight Nugent to the end…no matter what the odds!