The quest
Al is a fiddle foot. In fact, he has been riding the rails, and when he jumps off from the blind baggage of a passenger train just before it passes the railroad yards outside Jumping Creek, two railroad detectives use fists to subdue him before putting him in Sheriff Timothy Drayton's jail. Paradise Al looks like a Pendleton, the powerful local clan that is feuding with the Draytons. That resemblance, with a little help from Al, is enough to get him out of jail. The Draytons have a man-killing stallion and have boasted they will give the horse to anyone who can ride him. Paradise Al, who is clearly a greenhorn when it comes to horses, takes up the challenge, but with a provision. He wants to keep the horse for a week on the Pendleton Ranch before he rides him. In The Quest, Barney Dwyer is a social outcast. He has more brawn than brains and has yet to find his place in the world despite all his efforts to do the right thing. He has a habit of breaking tools unintentionally, and when he does so on the Peary Ranch, he is fired. But Daniel Peary also gives him a chance for reclamation. Barney should go to the town of Timberline and get his pay from Len Peary, the owner's son who refuses to work on the ranch. If Barney can bring Len Peary home, he can have his job back. Of course, never having met Len Peary, Barney cannot imagine what an impossible task he is taking on. --from inside front cover.