Skinny and suffering from diabetes, Ralph Moody is ordered by a Boston doctor to seek a more healthful climate. Going west again is a delightful prospect. Now nineteen years old he is hustling odd jobs, facing the problem of getting fresh milk and leafy green vegetables and risking his neck as a stunt rider for a movie company. With a buddy named Lonnie, he camps out in an Arizona canyon and 'shakes the nickel bush' by sculpting plaster of paris busts of lawyers and bankers.
