Unjustly Accused
John Bonner, cattleman, received his son, Tom, back from the east. Tom confides to his younger brother, Frank, that he is heavily involved in debt. They agree that it is best not to tell the father. Frank is engaged to Mary, a sheep-herder's daughter. On hearing of it Frank's father becomes enraged; father and son quarrel bitterly. That night Tom attempts to steal from his father. He is caught in the act; a fight results. Tom kills his father. This is observed by Andy, a cowboy, who was hanging around in the hope of laying his hands on the payroll. Andy compels Tom to divide with him under threat of exposure. Then follows Frank's arrest and conviction on the strong circumstantial evidence of his quarrel that day with his father, the riding quirt with which he was killed, and his own sudden disappearance. Mary, determined to prove her lover's innocence, employs a detective and together they establish Tom's guilt. They confront him and his companion with the truth in the presence of the cowboys. In the excitement Andy is killed and Tom escapes with a wounded arm. He is pursued by the cowboys and Mary, but it is Mary who finally meets him alone near a ravine, and in the shots which are exchanged Tom is badly wounded. Mary puts him on his horse and leads him to the courthouse, where the death sentence is just being pronounced upon his mother. Tom addresses the court, confesses his crime, drops into a chair and dies as the others crowd around him.
