Hondo Lane was a tough Calvary Scout and Indian fighter. He was quick with a gun and a lonely man. In the quick beginning of this tale Hondo manages to escape three murdering savage Apache Indians. Though he killed them they had killed his horse so Hondo was on foot for a long trek through the desert.
Angie Lowe, a pioneer woman with a six year old son was at the end of Hondo’s trek away from his Indian ambush. Angie’s husband Ed Lowe had left months ago and she was pretty sure he would not be back. In the past he only returned briefly – his liking was for the town and the card games and women there, not for the hard work of the frontier ranch.
Hondo helped Angie with shoeing some of her horses and cutting firewood in exchange for putting him up for a while. He bought a horse from her and left to return to the fort where he had dispatches to deliver for the U.S. Army. But Hondo was bothered by Angie being all alone out in that big desert with the Apache Indians suddenly on the warpath over the once again broken treaty of the white man.
So Hondo, against the wishes of the Army Major in charge, left the post to go out and see if he could help Angie and her son return to safety. Before he could get to the ranch he was ambushed by Angie’s husband Ed and forced to kill the man. Then he was captured by the Apaches and only managed to get free when a picture of Angie’s son was found by the Indians. The boy had been adopted by the old Chief of the tribe and the Chief knew Angie was waiting for the return of her husband. So the Chief returned Hondo to the lady who lied and told him that Hondo was her husband.
Well, of course the Army had to go out after the Apaches and in the process were ambushed and almost wiped out. The few that managed to escape took Hondo and Angie with them.
It was an exciting tale and one that captivated me to the point of reading it all in one day. A fine western, the tale of Hondo is one I had heard about long ago and finally took the time to read. I am glad I did. It rates an 8 of 10 on the Weaver meter.
