Having been captured once by Pow-Wow Smith when his shadow revealed his whereabouts, Ace Wright decides to learn all he can about shadows so he can turn the tables on the Indian Lawman. Included in his studies are knowledge of the Shadow Belts to prevent his capture, and the ability of magic arrows that will kill a man by striking down his shadow.
Outlaw Lafe gets an idea from the children's story about mice putting a bell on a cat and sends Nighthawk the gift of an alarm watch pre-set to go off at a the moment planned for his next heist.
Riding through Saddle Rock, Wyoming is confused to find every business establishment is named after him, since he has never been there before. He's told that the townspeople use his name as a deterrent to outlaws, who would see his name and keep riding on through. But Wyoming notices that the signs are all freshly painted, and discovers it's all a ruse to disguise that outlaws already run the town and the townspeople are prisoners.