A mob led by Kate Crowley is preparing to lynch 'Pop' Ben Owens when Marshal Matt Sample and his two deputies, Bronco and Al Sawyer, ride up to stop them. She accuses Pop of killing her son but Pop confesses he only stole from a few sluices. Sample takes the prisoner saying only rope provided by the law will hang Pop. He will take Pop to Dennison for a trial telling Owens to come there to press charges. Owens rides off to bury her son so Sample sends Bronco to investigate the body and scene. After Owens leaves with the body, Bronco finds a pocket watch he assumes belonged to the dead son. He rejoins Sample as nightfall closes in along with the cold weather. Pop offers his nearby home to give them a place to sleep off the ground which they accept. As they approach the house, gunfire traps them until Bronco slips around to capture Pop's daughter Francy. Later, on the trail Owens attacks the group mortally wounding Sample who makes Bronco promise to get the prisoner to jail.
—Anonymous