John Mackley is in the hands of a money-lender, and a broken leg prevents him from meeting a note when due. He succeeds in putting off the payment until a future date, in the hope that better times will come in the interim. His wife and daughter, Lucy, comprise his family. Lucy, just budding into womanhood, has formed an attachment for a young man, who had rendered herself and mother a little service one day. They have met several times and love has become mutual. She knows nothing of his avocation or his past, only that he is living in the neighborhood. One day she surprises him behind a big rock on the highway, just as the daily stage turns a bend in the road and approaches. Andy, her lover, seems slightly disconcerted, but soon recovers his wonted composure and good nature. On reaching home that day, she is told by her father and mother that they will be homeless unless she consents to marry the money-lender. Broken-hearted she writes a notes and places it on the big tree which has been the trysting place for herself and Andy. The note informs him that she must marry someone else to save her home, and bids him farewell. Next day she visits the tree and finds a note addressed to her. It is signed "A Friend," and advises her that a notorious bandit, for whom the authorities are looking, has taken refuge in a certain cave. She is requested to get the reward of $5,000 for his capture and avoid marrying the money-lender. Lucy hastens to the sheriff with the news, and accompanies him and his posse to the cave, where she discovers that Andy is the outlaw. She pleads with the sheriff that there must be a mistake, but he takes off his prisoner and turns over the reward to her. The curtain falls as the mortgage is paid off, and as Lucy, overcome with remorse, whispers to her mother that she will wait for her lover until his term has expired.