With a warrant for the arrest of Manuel Lopes, a notorious Mexican horse thief, the sheriff strikes his trail. He finds the desperado out in the desert, prostrated by thirst. He revives him with water from his own canteen, and placing the handcuffs on him, puts him under arrest. After regaining his strength, the Mexican treacherously pretends to be weak. The sheriff, little suspecting an attack, is struck down by his prisoner. He is left to face the death from which he has just rescued his assailant. The Mexican takes the key from the prostrate man's pocket, and unlocking the handcuffs, places them upon the sheriff. The brave officer, as soon as he regains his senses, resolves to stick to the end of the trail, and, wounded though he is, crawls manacled to the Mexican's house. Some cowboys, who see the Mexican on the sheriff's pony, follow him to his home, where his daughter, Mercedes, has given shelter to the sheriff. The Mexican reaches the house ahead of the others. His daughter tries to detract his attention from the room where the sheriff is hidden. He becomes suspicious, throws his daughter aside to enter the room, when the sheriff, with his manacled hands, manages to draw his revolver and faces the infuriated man. To prevent bloodshed, the daughter jumps between them just as they fire their guns. The shot from her father's pistol kills her. The door of the cabin is burst open, the cowboys enter and capture the Mexican, whom they take to jail. His daughter is laid to rest, saved from the disgrace of her father's imprisonment and death sentence.