Broncho Billy, in a quarrel with Faro Dan, a card sharp, shoots him and flees. Pursued, he hides in the wagon of a man whom he meets on the prairie. The posse is misled by Broncho Billy's friend and the fugitive escapes. Several years later Broncho is made sheriff of an adjoining county. A rancher finds a cattle thief leading away some of his stock, and holds him with a rifle while his daughter calls the sheriff. Broncho Billy arrives and learns the thief is the man who befriended him. After a mental struggle Broncho arrests him, despite threats of exposure, and then hands in his star as sheriff and goes back to the old county to give himself up. He has the surprise of his life when he meets Faro Dan, who he merely had wounded, alive, and learns he now is honest.