Joe, Erik and Cotton Buckmeister meet printer Lemuel Beamish, who asks to travel with them the next day. Unknown to the rangers Beamish has three men following him. Beamish's cinch breaks and Cotton stays behind with him, spending the night at an abandoned fort. They are attacked and Beamish is killed. Before he dies he recites a nursery rhyme Cotton is to repeat to Beamish's niece when he delivers his belongings to her, which include a satchel of money. The money turns out to be counterfeit and the rangers suspect that the three men and possibly the niece are after something else, such as engraving plates. The nursery rhyme may be a clue to where they are hidden but Cotton can't remember how it goes!
