 Paladin is hired by Henry Ritchie, the leading citizen of the town of Ashley to stop a dam building project financed by Central City and an engineer named Mike O Hare. The dam will cost Ashley its water supply. Other less sophisticated gunslingers are also vying for the job. Paladin s first attempt to stop the project is a simple act of sabotage that is not direct enough for Ritchie who wants O Hare stopped by any means necessary. Paladin soon comes to realize that O Hare is not the unreasonable man he was led to believe he is and that he could be working for the wrong side.