A reporter,Mallory Butler, stops in at the San Francisco Wells Fargo office to see Tom Clark about contacting Jim Hardie to do a story on him as part of a series. Jim is not in but Tom Clark who hired Jim is willing to give his early history. Jim was from Louisiana on a horse farm when his dad died when Jim was nineteen. Shortly afterwards Jim sold the farm and moved his mother to New Orleans. Jim a drifter showed up in Sweet Slumber, Texas where Clark had opened a new office. Jim rode in tired and hungry looking to pawn his gun. Gunsmith Jackson agrees to give him $20 for it. Jim heads to the saloon where Big Willy Crane along with his gang has taken over. Jim is liked by Crane who buys him a meal and hires him to blow a bridge. When Jim returns, he learns he has aided in Crane preparing to hang the Judge that hanged Crane's four brothers.
—Anonymous