Colorado

While in an army camp waiting to be discharged, Lt. Frank Hayden sees a fellow officer, Capt. Kincaid, attacking a girl. He stops Kincaid, thrashing him soundly in the process. However, to avoid a court-martial for striking a fellow officer, Hayden deserts and flees to the desert. He comes across Tom Doyle, who is stranded and dying of thirst, and takes Doyle back to his home. He meets and falls in love with Doyle's daughter Kitty. Calling himself "Austin", Hayden becomes partners with Doyle in a gold-prospecting venture. However, just as things are coming along nicely, Hayden's past surfaces at a most inopportune moment. Complications ensue.