Summary
Jack Lane is a man caught between two worlds: the desperate, financial machinery of the urban East and the rugged, unforgiving landscape of his family's Western ranch. After a failed attempt to secure a loan to save his father’s land, Jack returns home on a train where he encounters Ellen Rand, a nurse who represents a bridge between modern civilization and the frontier. Unbeknownst to Jack, Ellen is headed to his own home to care for his father, whose health is failing under the weight of an impending foreclosure. The stakes are heightened when Morton Kane, a predatory neighbor who has secretly discovered oil on the Lane property, conspires to seize the land through sabotage. Jack’s only hope lies in the local rodeo, a high-stakes competition where his physical skill must overcome the underhanded tactics of Kane and his son. The narrative culminates in a desperate race against time and corruption, where the traditional values of the cowboy are pitted against the greed of the industrial age.
Synopsis
Jack Lane is returning from the East after an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a loan to pay off the mortgage on his father's ranch. On the train, he meets Ellen Rand, who is smitten at the sight of her first real cowboy. Later he learns that she is the nurse who is to care for his paralytic father, growing weaker at the prospect of losing his ranch. Jack plans to enter the local rodeo to earn the money, though Morton Kane, who holds the mortgage and has secretly discovered oil on the ranch, plots with his son Ross to keep him from the events. He is waylaid by Kane's men but escapes and races for the rodeo in Kane's car; and with Ellen's help he arrives in time to win the relay and bucking events. The ranch is thus saved, Jack's father recovers, and Jack is united with Ellen.
