They sent Sergeant Gorse back-lashed aboard his own mount. They bay carried him-upright and staring-across the parched, hostile wasteland to the very gates of Fort Bellew. He had six arrows in his back. They had slit him open from neck to thigh, filled him with a stinking, unspeakable mess, and sewed him back together with gut. This was the savage challenge of Asesino, warrior chief of the Chiricahuas. Before the sun rose again the gates of Fort Bellew would swing open and its men would ride out after Asesino-down the trail that led to glory-or death!