Fleming's first night in Panama he was robbed of his stake and left for dead.
 
Panama—gaudy queen city of the hell strip, where murder and pillage and vice rioted.

Panama—brawling last stop before the California gold fields, where a man slept with his gun at his hand—or else he never woke up.
 
To this thieves' paradise came Dave Fleming, Texas Ranger with a zest for adventure. He got a bucketful—from the bandits, the killers, the purveyors of corruption.
 
And from the women, the soft, lovely women—who were infinitely more dangerous.