bravery

The plot runs something like this. There is a young and beautiful girl named Jane Withersteen, who inherits a ranch on the death of her father. The sad part is that the ranch is located in Cottonwoods which is an area dominated by the Mormons.

The Mormons were an offshoot of Christian faith and had some Bizarre customs and rituals that included multiple marriages in the same clan. The story is set in Utah in 1871 when the area was not properly policed.

There is a small rivulet called Amber spring that runs through her property and this is coveted by the Mormon Church. This rivulet supplies all the water to the settlement of the Mormons

The Mormons elders land on the ranch and wish to force Jane to marry anotherMormon named Elder Tull. She refuses and the Mormons led by Elder Tull enter her ranch and arrest her foreman. They plan to whip him. A helpless Jane prays to Jesus for deliverance and lo and behold a rider in black appears. He is Lassitor, who is after the Mormons who have abducted his sister.

Zane Grey has created a most masculine and lovable character in Lassitier. A man who is quick on the draw and can fire guns like greased lightning. He is the archetype of the mythical Western gun fighter

The later novelists, who made a name for themselves, based their characters on Lassitor, Zane Grey’s creation. Jane hires Lassitor and she falls in love with him. Zane Grey made his heroines virtuous and lovely and the hero’s