| abstract | - Laura Towne lives with Stew Carey on their cattle ranch, the Rancho Oro, in Nevada. Jigg Larsen shows up with his gang of cattle rustlers. Jigg tells his men to take Stew to the ranch house and set it afire. Jigg grabs Laura around the waist and carries her away on his horse. Strong Bow and Stew go searching for Jigg and Laura, first telling Sheriff Townley about the incident. The sheriff says he'll arrange a posse to scour the area looking for Jigg and his rustlers to get Laura back and recover the stolen cattle. Strong Bow goes to check out Indian Hills with Stew. Strong Bow says it's in an area the Sheriff likely won't go. As they approach the area, they see the dead body of a prospector named Loco Luke, with his mule standing next to him. Loco has been shot dead by Jigg and his renegades. Continuing on, Strong Bow and Stew discover a hidden trail and follow it, using the Indian marker symbols left along the way. It leads to a Spanish mine shaft of long ago and the mine shaft Loco had been prospecting. Further beyond, the pair discover a dried lake bed the rustlers had been using to hide the stolen cattle. Seeing Jigg and the restrained Laura by a campfire, Strong Bow picks up a nearby cactus and carries it as camouflage to surreptitiously approach the two figures. While Jigg's back is turned, Strong Bow cuts the ropes binding Laura and tells her to run. One of the rustlers tell Jigg about Laura's escape. Jigg tells the other man to shoot her. Strong Bow shoots an arrow and kills the man. Another rustler says he saw where the arrow came from and fires. Strong Bow kills him with another arrow. A rustler by the name of Larry says he saw where the arrow came from, but Jigg tells him to forget it as the archer could be anywhere in the group of tall cactus. Strong Bow shoots yet another rustler. Jigg says they must hide from the arrows and recapture Laura. Strong Bow tells Laura to get up to where Stew is and tell him to start rolling the boulders above down on the rustlers. One of the rustlers gets Laura in his sight. Jigg tells him to "forget the girl" and fire at Strong Bow instead. Stew begins rolling the boulders at the rustlers. Strong Bow finds a spot where the boulders will bounce over him to fire his arrows. Jigg tells the men to get going, as the boulders are coming down. The boulders cause the stolen herd to stampede out of the hidden valley. The stampede crushes the rustlers, putting an end to Jigg and his renegades Later, Sheriff Townley thanks Strong Bow for assisting in stopping Jigg and his rustlers. Strong Bow tells the sheriff Laura Towne is the one who deserves the thanks, as she discovered the hidden valley first.
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