Left Alone, excepting for the occasions when her husband returns to maltreat and abuse her, Effie Neville's cup of bitterness was not full until one day he dashed into their rude hut and, hastily concealing something within the house, said to her: "If anyone asks for me, tell 'em I ain't back yet." He hurries away. After he has gone she enters the shack and finds what her husband had secreted - a bag of gold. Soon the sheriff's posse arrives, but the wife tells them her husband has not yet returned. However, the sharp eyes of the sheriff has noted the tracks of a man, and, leading his posse away, the manhunt is on. They soon come into the vicinity of the outlaw, who, by a circuitous route, regains his house and locks himself within. The posse discovers the ruse and attack the house until the sheriff orders them to cease firing. They attempt to rush the house, when the outlaw, firing, wounds the sheriff. Sliding down from the loft as the posse enters the house, he outlaw secures the sheriff's horse and hurries away. The posse follows him, while the outlaw's wife busies herself in binding up the sheriff's wounds. The wife secures the bag of gold and gives it to the sheriff, and asks, now that the money is returned, they pursue her husband no further. In the meantime the posse has overtaken the outlaw, and on his refusal to surrender they fire and he is wounded. They hurry him back to the hut, where the sight of the sheriff and his wife infuriate him. Straining at his captors to release himself, he completes the work the bullet began and falls, dying, at their feet. The posse files away while the sheriff extends the hand of sympathy and succor to the bereaved woman.