The setting is WWII and Hans Beckman has arrived from Germany with a mission of destroying horses before they can be sold to the government. He kidnaps and replaces his twin brother as ranch foreman, but Tom Cameron suspects something is wrong and with sidekick Fuzzy sets out to learn the truth.—Maurice VanAuken <[email protected]>

Number 13 in the series (preceded by "Overland Stagecoach" and followed by "Death Rides the Plains") has Tom Cameron, aka The Lone Rider, and his sidekick "Fuzzy" Jones in Texas buying horses for the United States Cavalry. Smoky Moore (not Smokey Beckman), foreman of the Flying Horse Ranch, and his assistant, Bruce Collins, are rounding up the horses when Collins draws a gun on the unsuspecting Moore (not Beckman) but, before he has time to fire, Ellen Walden, daughter of the ranch owner, rides up and interrupts the attempted murder. She brings a message from her father, in Washington, that Cameron is on his way to inspect the horses prior to purchase. Collins again attempts to shoot Smokey Moore (not Smokey Beckmann) but Cameron arrives in time to save him, and Collins gets away. Collins joins Hans Beckmann (not Beckman) and his gang. Unknown to Smoky Moore (not Smokey Beckman), Hans Beckmann is his unknown-to-Smoky Moore, twin brother who was raised in Germany and is now a Nazi agent. Beckmann's intentions are to take his twin brother's place as foreman of the ranch and destroy all the horses and put a major crimp in the United States' war efforts in 1943. Beckmann shoots Collins for his failure to further the war efforts of the Third Reich, and then has his twin-brother (known as Smoky Moore) kidnapped, and held prisoner while Hans Beckmann takes his place. But Tom knows that something isn't quite right. Especially when Beckmann (posing as Moore) does not remove his hat at the playing of "The Star Spangled Banner."—Les Adams <[email protected]>