Con Artists of the Old West

First Appearing in Louis L'Armour Western Magazine Kat Ballinger and Dance O'Leary are two of the worst villains that ever rode the west. Talented and highly intelligent con artists they left a wake of destruction wherever they went. All but one of the stories here follow the path of their crimes. But rather than being about Dance and Kat, these stories are about the courage and determination it takes for the duo's victims to make sense of and put back together their lives. In THE TRUTH ABOUT THE WILD LOVE a man learns a secret his wife has kept from him for many years: a secret that began when Kat sold him a bad horse and shot him when he tried to change his mind. In THE APPRENTICE NEWSPAPERMAN a young man learns about life and love in the wake of Kat and Dance's con. In THE STOLEN CHILD a couple whose young daughter was taken by Indians are approached by Kat and Dance who claim to be able to recover the daughter. A daughter the husband knows is dead. And finally SERPENT AT RATTLE LAKE is a good old-fashioned monster story which, as you will see, is entirely plausible.