Kate, the corporal's daughter, has been snubbed and humiliated by her sweetheart, Lieutenant Garrison. On the day in question, on the parade ground near Fort Millerton during the period when hundreds of whites were being murdered by the Indians in the border wars. Lieutenant Garrison neglects to recognize Kate as he passes by with some aristocratic friends when he is showing around. Subsequently, Kate gives back her engagement ring and will not even listen to explanations, changes have been ordered at the garrison, and Kate leaves with her father At the new location, she is warned not to go far from the garrison because of the activities of the Indians in that section. She meets Tom Keen, a government scout, and they become interested in each other at once. A few minutes later he sees Indians attack Kate and rides off with a detachment of men to her assistance. She is rescued. A few days after, Tom and Kate are playing checkers and Tom makes a significant move asking Kate to be his wife. She accepts. Soon after, a new consignment of troops with Lieutenant Garrison in command, arrive at the garrison where Tom and Kate are. A report is brought in that a massacre has just taken place. Troops ride out, including Lieutenant Garrison and Tom. They occupy a basin at the floor of a mountain. Against the face of the cliff is a boulder and down the almost perpendicular precipice is a large vine. The men are finally unable to get out as an attempt of this kind would mean certain death. At night a man is sent out, making his way up the vine and escaping. He gives the alarm at the fort, but the commander does not want to leave women and children alone and refrains from sending men to the assistance of the prisoners, preferring to wait for reinforcements. Kate, attired as a squaw, goes to the place where the men are entrapped, first learning from an old Indian at the fort that escape could be made through a tunnel in the mountain, dug for a coal mine. The men draw straws to determine who shall remain to cover up the escape of the majority, and Tom, who saw a change come over his wife when she saw Garrison, draws two cards. He gives the card of escape to Garrison and decides to remain. Kate determines to remain with him, because she says she prefers death to separation from him. Troops arrive from the fort together with the news that Garrison has been killed.