Oftentime it has been proved that the own children of a family have proved less loving and considerate than those who have been adopted. And so it was in the case of the adopted brother of this family. He became the sole support, while the old gray-haired father sat by the fire, the young daughter looked after the house and the degenerate brother went off to the saloon with his questionable companions. The money for his debauches was often supplied by the adopted young brother. The brother has just left for the saloon, and the adopted son follows him to the village, just in time to see the drunken crowd throw a stranger out of the saloon. He is jestingly known as the "book-writer," and his drunken debauches are the talk of the good people and the abuse of those of his kind. The boy befriends the author by taking him to his cabin. Here while he sleeps off his drunken stupor, the boy reads some of the manuscripts lying on the table. When the author awakens the boy seeks to encourage him into a fresh start and begins to arouse new courage in the writer. Meanwhile back in the saloon there is another fight. A drunken farmer coming out is met by one of his former hands who demands the pay that is coming to him. The farmer underpaid the man. There is a struggle between the two and a large roll of bills is displayed. The degenerate brother and his friends coming out of the saloon see the money and decide to follow the man and rob him. They do this. The boy returning home from the author's cabin comes upon them and is an unwilling witness to their crime. They see him, and pursuing him into the nearby bushes they threaten and abuse him until he agrees to keep silent. As he is passing the sheriff's house he sees the man who had been robbed on the porch while the hand who had previously quarreled with him is also there and being accused of the crime. A strong sense of rebellion against his degenerate brother arises in the boy's mind. All his life the other man has made people suffer. The boy decides to stand by the truth and he goes to the sheriff and tells him the true story of the crime. Thus the degenerate brother and his friend are brought to justice. Some time later while they are working on the stone heap not far from the prison a fight arises between an unruly prisoner and a guard. It is an opportunity they have long been looking for and they make good their escape. Successful in evading the guards, they hide under a rocky cliff. Presently upon the height above they see two men fighting; one renders the other unconscious and the two convicts see in this a chance to cover their own tracks. They steal up behind the two men and rob them of their clothes. In their new garb their first thought is for vengeance on the adopted brother who had been the cause of all their suffering. They seek him at the home, but he is bidding goodbye to the author, who is leaving that locality, a changed man, due entirely to the boy's influence. They intimidate the girl into telling his whereabouts, but on their departure she goes to the house to find the boy. She meets him on the street returning from the author. The two convicts, however, had seen him from a distance, and jumping on two horses they find by the roadside they follow in quick pursuit. The girl runs for the sheriff and the chase continues. The author on the outside of the town, however, had stopped to rest. The boy, followed by the two convicts, pass by on their horses. He takes in the situation at a glance and following after the two he reaches them just as they are about to fall upon the boy. In the struggle he kills one and he himself is shot by another. The other convict falls into the hands of the sheriff. Thus the good done another returns to the boy and frustrates the evil design that was to be perpetrated against him for the price of a life.