Recovering from a streak of bad luck at five-card stud, John Slocum stops by a river in the Grand Tetons to fill his canteen--only to find three dead bodies floating downstream. Slocum knows to find another route. But a flash of silver from a rider upstream strikes his curiosity.

The rider leads Slocum to a towering wooden gate strewn with armed guards. Slocum wants to turn back, but a man with a rifle appears and persuades him otherwise. When the guards demand he pay a steep toll or leave, he plays it smart.

Waiting for nightfall, Slocum discovers a rotted hole in the gate and sneaks through. But the guards arrest him and take him to be judged by a man known as "the emperor." When the judgment is "the pits," Slocum's left wondering what fate will meet him--and hoping for a change of luck...