When Roscoe and Tooey leave Fort Benton after their run-in with Cronkit out in the Little Rocky Mountains, as told in "Roscoe and Tooey, Montana Runaways," they ride out to Clint Stranahan's place on the Teton River. There they learn to milk cows, to put up hay and to irrigate the hay fields. After working hard all summer they are asked to help with finding some missing cattle for a rancher a few miles west on the Teton River. They pack their bedrolls and some gear thinking they'll only be gone for a day or two at the most.. But when Roscoe hears some men burying something by the river late at night, their search for missing critters turns into a more deadly adventure. They follow the Bootlegger Trail into Black Eagle where they learn to their chagrin what the men were doing out on the river so late at night.