Tom Derry owed Buck Rainey his lifeātwice over.
When Rainey saved him from an angry bull, Tom thought that here was a good and brave man. When Rainey helped him fight some men who wanted his blood, Tome knew that if there was ever anything he could do for Buck, heād do it gladly.
Rainey knew this too. So he asked Tom to help get his friend Barry Christian out of jailāand out of a hanging. Tom figured that if Christian was Buckās friend, he couldnāt be a murderer. And when Buck said the Jim Silver, the man whoād put Christian behind bars, was a lying, scheming killer, Tom had no reason to doubt him.
So Tom helped Christian escapeāand was repaid by being sent on a ride on Christianās horse, the horse whose trail Silver was tracking. When Silver caught up with him, Tom though that he was finished. But Jim Silver knew a decent man when he saw one, and let Derry go. It was then that Tom realized the truth: Christian was a killer, and if he had the chance, he would kill Silver. Tom knew he had to stop him somehowāeven if it meant doublecrossing the man who had twice saved his life.