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Little Red Decides Synopsis

Upon learning that the parents of "Little Red" have died, the cowboys of Colonel Ferdinand Aliso's ranch adopt the boy. Parson Jones and his church committee protest that the child should be brought up in more refined surroundings, but the cowboys, particularly Duck Sing, Aliso's Chinese cook, are so enamored of Little Red that they donate their poker money to the church in order to placate the congregation. After Little Red catches pneumonia and nearly dies, however, Dr. Kirk insists that the boy either live with the minister or acquire a mother through the marriage of one of the cowboys. While Little Red is recuperating at the parson's home, ranch hand Tom Gilroy courts the only marriageable women in town -- a widow and two spinsters -- but much to his relief, they all turn him down. In the end, Duck Sing, whom the child much prefers to the parson, kidnaps Little Red, after which the colonel legally adopts him.

The Penitentes Synopsis

In a seventeenth century New Mexico village, after Indians attack and kill everyone except two monks and a baby named Manuel, the neighboring Penitentes, a violent, fanatical Catholic sect, lay claim to all property, including the estate belonging to Manuel's family. Years later, during a regional fiesta, Father David, the local religious leader, notices the striking Manuel, now grown, and questions the Penitentes' chief about his background. Fearing exposure, the chief induces his followers to choose Manuel as their annual sacrificial victim, to be crucified on the upcoming Good Friday. Dolores, Manuel's sweetheart, attempts to sway him from the group, but he insists on participating in the ceremony. At the urging of Father David, Colonel Banca orders his troops to stop the ceremony, and Manuel narrowly escapes crucifixion. Later, the confession of one of the old monks reveals the true identity and heritage of Manuel.