Summary
Pan Smith, a grounded Montana rancher, crosses paths with Jim Blake and his daughter Lucy amidst a chaotic stampede of wild horses. His act of rescue extends into an invitation, drawing the transient Blake family into his rancher's world. As Pan's affections turn toward Lucy, a quiet tension simmers with Dick Hardman, his foreman, who harbors his own ambitions. The narrative thickens during a barn dance when Lucy confides in Pan about her father's unjust pursuit for a bank theft. In a desperate bid to buy time and clear Blake's name, Pan orchestrates a stagecoach holdup, concealing a crucial dispatch box containing exonerating documents—an act witnessed by the duplicitous Dick. This betrayal sets in motion a dramatic chase, as Dick informs the sheriff and assembles a posse, even as news of Blake's innocence begins to circulate. The climax sees Dick, with calculated timing, intervene in the ensuing confrontation, ultimately leading to Pan and Lucy's eventual union, an outcome shaped by both heroic action and underhanded opportunism.
Synopsis
Pan Smith, a young Montana rancher, rescues Jim Blake and his daughter Lucy from a stampede of wild horses and invites the squatters to be his guests. Pan falls in love with Lucy, but rivalry develops soon between him and Dick Hardman, his foreman. At a barn dance, Pan learns from Lucy that her father is being hunted for a bank theft, though she knows him to be innocent; to stall the sheriff, Pan holds up the stage and while hiding the dispatch box, containing incriminating papers, is observed by Dick. Dick informs the sheriff and organizes a posse just as word reaches the judge that Blake is innocent. Dick then proceeds to overtake the posse, his arrival terminates the battle, and Pan is united with Lucy.
