glenn crawford, whose pallor and feverishly glowing eyes mark the three months he has just spent in a hospital as the result of an accident he suspects was planned, has the restless animal lines of body and negligible hips of one who has been much in the saddle. hotheaded, once fearless, he is presently trying to overcome an unreasoning panic and pain which rack his body whenever he goes near a horse.

merida lopez, whose presence at the big o ranch is surrounded by mystery, has a faintly exotic beauty and slumberous, provocative eyes which both irritate crawford and stir something primal in him. he isn't sure of her game, but he knows a woman like merida doesn't trail through the wild brush country just for the scenery.

dr. feliz huerta, who looks as though he's in the process of disintegration, has strongly arched brows and a graying peak of hair which gives him a satanic cast. his eyes hold a dull, jaded lackluster, and even the slightest movement seems to cost him infinite effort. for his own reasons, he is extremely interested in crawford's symptoms.

quartel, come to wind up affairs at the big o, is a huge hunk of thick brown flesh with sensual lips and shoulders like sides of beef. he boasts he can rope better, ride farther, drink more and cuss dirtier than any hombre between texas and mexico city.

otis rockland, whom crawford makes no bones about hating, is the owner of the big o. as crawford looks at it, rockland's dealings with crawford's pal, old delcazar, were no less dirty for being legal.

delcazar, who fears his friend crawford is mixed up in the most dangerous thing that ever hit the wild brush country, is an aged, gnarled, and skinny mexican who lives alone in the back country. he has rheumy eyes in a face seamed as an old satchel.

cabezablanca, so-called for his head of pure white hair, is one of the big o crew. he has a reputation for being deadly dangerous, but for some reason huerta seems to have him under his thumb.

jacinto (little hyacinth) del rio, the big, fat, grumbling cook, listened to his father when he told him there were two sins in the world, working and fighting, and if he avoided both of them he would surely go to heaven.

bueno bailey, a tough bronc-buster, gaunt as an alley cat, has milky eyes, and parts his long yellow hair in the middle, slicking it down with bacon grease. crawford suspects him of being responsible for his "accident."

aforismo, who has a sinister proverb for every occasion, is a thin, stooped man whose eyebrows, slanting toward the middle of his forehead, give him a mournful expression. his favorite motto, cut into his razor-sharp knife, is tripe is sweet but bowels are better.

wallace tarant, otis rockland's lawyer, has a broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped frame, a square brow and a wide, thin-lipped mouth which should have held a palpable strength. but his eyes won't meet crawford's, and his voice is small for such a large man.

sheriff ed kenmare, weary lawman of san antonio, whose duties hang heavy upon him, has a bulbous nose prominent among heavy, weathered features.

ford innes, cabezablanca's saddlemate, is a red-bearded redhead with shrewd little eyes and a short square body which holds all the lethal threat of a snub-nosed derringer.

africano, a big black devil of a horse, is a killer nobody has been able to break. just the thought of him drives crawford into a trembling frenzy of fear, but he knows he must conquer africano or go crazy.