In the 1880's Texans looked to the Texas Rangers to stop the Indian raids that terrorized pioneering settlers in the Panhandle area of the Lone Star State. Last stronghold of the red men, the Texas-New Mexico border territory seemed to swallow up and protect the marauding Comanches and Apaches. But now white men knew how the red men could disappear into the waterless wastes of the "Staked Plains" and live to raid again.

Through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Chett Roberts, this is the story of how men from Company C of the world-famed Texas Rangers discovered the hidden lakes that provided the Indians with their base. It is a tale of sustained high-pitched suspense, of nine men and a boy who resolves to prove that he's man enough to be a Ranger to his commander and his father. The Rangers' expedition through merciless heat and desolate country filled with hostile Indians, Chett's capture and rescue and this final thrill of discovery make this yarn of America's pioneering past a study in courage, personal bravery and western adventure!

From the dust jacket