Three outlaws, pursued by the posse, are crossing the desert when a child's cry halts them. Near a deserted wagon they see a mountain lion about to devour a baby, whose late guardians lie dead of thirst nearby. Driving off the beast, the outlaws rescue the baby, first feeding it and then taking it with them, despite the handicap of its presence. Attacked by Indians, they still refuse to desert "Little Pardner." In a running fight one outlaw is killed; another dies of thirst. The survivor escapes and, seeing the posse in the distance, fires a shot to attract their attention. The sheriff, coming up, is amazed to see, in the outlaw's arms, his own motherless baby, which he had left in the care of an old settler and his wife. The story told, he bids the outlaw go where he will, for he will never take him prisoner.