Broncho Billy, owner of a saloon in Big Horn City, is trusted implicitly by the miners in the surrounding territory. Several of them have gathered at the bar, when Broncho Billy receives a note, stating that the stage-coach will not stop at Big Horn until the following day. The men request Broncho Billy to keep their gold until the coach arrives. Broncho Billy locks the gold in an iron chest, and asks the men if they will keep the key. They tell him no, that it would probably be safer with him. Broncho Billy retires with his clothes on, to be able to protect the gold if necessary. During the night Broncho Billy walks in his sleep. He takes the gold from the chest, carries it under a nearby house, where he places it in a barrel. He then returns to his bunk, where he sleeps the remainder of the night. The next morning he is dumbfounded when he discovers the loss. He informs the sheriff, who suggests locking him in a cell to prevent the men from lynching him. That night, the men break into the jail, overpower the sheriff, and are about to make quick work of Broncho Billy, when they discover him walking around in the cell asleep. They open the door and allow him to go out. Broncho Billy retraces his steps of the night previous, gets the gold and returns it to the chest, goes quietly to his bunk, where he continues to sleep. The men, overjoyed at the return of the gold, and discovering their terrible mistake in believing that Broncho Billy had stolen it, help themselves to a good drink at the bar.