Jim Woods, a tractable old sheep runner, dwells with his daughter, Beth, in a mountain cabin and does his best to keep his wandering flocks from infringing upon the meadows claimed by the cattlemen. Dave Rivers, himself a black sheep, pretends friendship for Woods on account of his daughter and vainly tries to make an impression upon her. One day there comes to Woods' humble home Morris Brayton, a young man from the Middle West, who is in search of health, and soon finds that and something else, for Beth Woods is a true tonic. One day in the little village a trio of cattlemen in a "thirst parlor," while protesting friendship for Woods, frame up a scheme to oust him from the neighborhood, and enlist Rivers in their nefarious enterprise. Brayton overhears this plot and pleads with old man Woods to leave the matter in his hands. He discovers Rivers as the active malefactor driving Woods' sheep down the mountains over into the territory of the cattlemen and remonstrates with him. This results in a desperate fight, the men grappling and struggling on the edge of a precipice until they at length go over, clasped in each other's arms. Happily, Rivers is at the bottom of things and Brayton's life is spared. Old Woods and his daughter nest morning searching for their flocks, find Brayton. The girl immediately shows her father the man of her choice by her joy in finding him alive, and they seal their betrothal with a kiss in the presence of the old man. This forms a spirited chapter of real life in the great west.