Jim is set up as a renegade as a cover for him and Artie to sneak into Texas and track down General Juan Manolo, who is trying to take over the region.
Ships along the Mississippi are being attacked by a gang of pirates known as the "Thousand Eyes". After Jim ducks an assassin, an attractive woman, he finds the leader of the Eyes: Captain Ansel Coffin, who was blinded and now seeks revenge. His gang use false lights to lead ships astray and crash them, and then plunder them. Jim is captured by Coffin and manages to escape a cage rigged to a lightning rod. He is blinded by a powder flash, and for a time he is at a decided edge against Coffin (who has long adapted to his blindness). Coffin manages to accidentally kill his wife. Enraged, Jim is saved by his recovering eyesight: he ducks, and Coffin falls into a pit to his death.
West is sent to infiltrate an army of fanatics dedicated to overthrowing the U.S. Government. Getting in is no problem...but if he tries to leave he'll be shot.
A demented geologist can set off earthquakes where he chooses as part of an elaborate extortioin scheme. So West and Gordon head for Ellenville--the next town on the mad genius's list.
A series of mysterious deaths of military personnel bring Jim face to face with the indestructible Col. "Iron Man" Torres. Crippled in an explosion that he blames on the other men of his company, Torres rebuilt himself as a 19th century "cyborg", and is seeking revenge on those he thinks wronged him...and President Grant was one of the men he served with.
