Ben Allison owned some ranchland and a small house in San Saba. He had traveled to El Paso to buy a horse, but when the sale fell through, he decided to take the take home. While purchasing his ticket, he met a young boy and his governess also buying tickets. When he learned that the boy s mother was his sister s childhood friend and was in the hospital there, he went to see her. She told him that she was dying, but didn t want her son to know. She then asked him to see her son safely home to his father, the governor of Texas. But Ben missed the stage, which was attacked by Apaches, and the boy was taken hostage."