In the early days of Oklahoma, the incoming pioneers were having a hard struggle for existence. The scarcity of wood forced the settlers to take lumber from a government preserve. The government, to stop the depredations, issued a call for deputies, and as the fees loomed very large in that time of want, there was no scarcity of men to fill the places. Among the first to accept service was young Yeager, the son of a Virginian. From his association with rough companions the young man soon became the hardest drinker and gambler of the lot. In the county seat was a gambler by the name of Latrobe, a man of the west, cold, hard and strictly "out for the money." 'The gambler was successful in cleaning out young Yeager. From that time onward, Yeager changed and was known as the desperado. It was his vowed intention to "get" Latrobe and those who had helped the gambler to "fleece" him. At the time the story opens, the sheriff was being severely criticized because of his inability to catch the Yeager. He determined to use a trap and posted a notice where he knew the desperado would see it, accusing him of cowardice and boasting that he would not come to town. Yeager accepted the challenge, and entering the town, found himself in a trap. His main idea in making the trip was to kill Latrobe, and instead he found himself the target for half a dozen sharpshooters, but escaped after wounding several of his assailants. In the melee he was shot through the upper lip, and while searching for a water hole, comes across a nester and his family, a wife and little girl. The nester tells of his hard luck and states that he wishes he could invite the stranger to stop for a meal, but that rations are very low. The desperado takes a liking to the child, and tells the family that he only wants to rest. He and the child become friendly, and the baby notices his bleeding lip when she asks him to kiss her doll. Before leaving that night, the stranger gives the girl a bundle of bills, and makes her promise to keep his gift a secret until the morrow. Then he rides through off through the night. The next day, while the desperado is trying to elude a posse following him, he is almost unseated when his horse dodges a striking rattlesnake. Dismounting to see if his horse has been struck, he notices the footprints of a child nearby and then sees the trail of a wagon. He surmises the child has wandered away from its parents, and is fearful that she may meet the rattlesnake. He searches nearby, and finally locates the child. The child had missed her doll and came back to search for it. It was at that point that the snake had been disturbed and bitten her. She is crying bitterly, "I have been bited." He ties a tourniquet above the wound, and knowing the action would mean his own death, sucks the wound with his bleeding lips. When the others find the two, the child is out of danger, while the desperado, smiling in his death agony, is safe beyond the reach of the law. On a hillside there is a grave marked only by a stone on which has been engraved, "And Christ ain't a-goin' to be too hard on a man who died for a little kid."