Chapter 19 and 20 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 19, when the war ended, L'Amour was sent home on the USS Boise, a light cruising vessel. Those aboard were ecstatic because the Boise was swift and they knew they should be able to make the crossing from Europe to America in under five days and would make it home for Christmas 1945. But a terrible storm blew up causing their crossing to take sixteen days.

As soon as L'Amour was back in the states, he contacted a publisher he knew who told him to write westerns and he'd buy them. Although he saved a little money during his service, it wouldn't last long and it was imperative that he begin writing and earning money. Writing westerns would be something he knew about and a subject that was supported by volumes of historical data.

L'Amour wanted to be successful...