Summary
A taciturn inheritor of wind-scoured grassland—Bar-U Ranch—rides toward Ord beneath a sky the colour of tarnished pewter; a chance rendezvous with a spark-plug suffragette in a sputtering Model-T detours him into the century’s new velocity. While his equine shadow trots the dusty horizon with Homeric fidelity, the town’s sanctified hucksters—an oleaginous parson and a slick half-brother—anoint the ranch as subterranean El Dorado, peddling certificates to every credulous soul whose dreams outrun their wallets. Our cowboy, equal parts sceptic and showman, allows the carnival to bloom, then yanks the rug: the gusher exists, but its black gold is muzzled, the con men poised to buy back pennies-on-the-dollar shares until a congregation of dupes becomes a posse of avengers. In the clapboard chapel, amid hymnals and kerosene-laced dusk, the cowboy and the motor-maiden bind their futures—land, love, and larceny reconciled by a preacher whose Bible now props a broken door.
Synopsis
The hero has inherited the Bar-U ranch near the town of Ord. On the way to Ord he meets a charming girl who invites him to ride in her automobile. He accepts the invitation, telling his horse to follow, which the intelligent animal does, arriving the next day. In Ord, Bill meets the half brother of his traveling companion and a parson. They announce that they are oil promoters and have discovered that his ranch is the center of the oil region. Bill has his suspicions, but tells them to go ahead. They sell stock to the town folks. When the two crooks are about to make their getaway, Bill steps in. With the help of the girl the money is saved. Getting back to town, Bill tells the stockholders that the well is a gusher which the promoters have capped, thus hoping to buy back the stock and make the entire fortune. The indignant citizens chase the promoters out of town. Bill and the girl have a private meeting at the church, where the knot is tied.
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