Satan's Keyhole

"Silver and Shells for General Kearny" opens in Santa Fe in the early days of the Mexican War. The Army of the West under General Kearny has begun its military invasion of New Mexico. The despotic New Mexican governor, Manuel Armijo, whose residence is the Palace of Governors in Santa Fe, has accepted a bribe of $30,000 in silver to resign and leave the province. The problem is the delivery of the bribe. Danny Macduff, a former huntsman at Bent's Fort, entering Santa Fe with a pack train of furs, is mistaken for the courier transporting the silver and finds himself plunged into the intrigues of the provincial capital.