Summary
Nestled in the oppressive isolation of North Woods peaks, Betty Yarnell endures village scorn while retrieving her perpetually inebriated father from Abner Grimp's saloon, finding solace only in a pet lamb's companionship. When John Yarnell barters his daughter to saloon-keeper Grimp in exchange for unlimited libations through a Faustian contract, Betty's fate collapses into nightmarish terrain. Revenue officer Ralph McGibbon's fortuitous arrival interrupts Grimp's initial claim, triggering a brutal cycle of pursuit where Grimp deploys his Indigenous associate Dark Cloud for recapture. After Ralph sustains near-fatal injuries during Betty's second rescue, the young woman performs a gut-wrenching sacrifice—slaughtering her beloved lamb to nourish the protector with life-sustaining broth. The community's moral bankruptcy culminates in the sheriff authorizing Betty's public auction, wherein Grimp asserts contractual ownership until Ralph, still bearing physical trauma, launches a desperate, bloody counter-assault that violently severs Betty's chains.
Synopsis
Living with her drunkard father in the North Woods mountains, Betty Yarnell is shunned by the villagers whenever she ventures out to pick up her father from Abner Grimp's saloon, and her only friend is a little lamb. In debt to Abner, John Yarnell signs a note turning over his daughter to Abner in return for unlimited drinks. When Abner goes to the cabin to claim Betty, revenue officer Ralph McGibbon arrives from the city and rescues her. Abner sends his Indian partner Dark Cloud, but Ralph rescues Betty again, although he is badly beaten up. Betty nurses Ralph, and even sacrifices her lamb to prepare broth for him. The sheriff decides to auction off Betty to the highest bidder. Abner demands that she be turned over to him, but Ralph fights him and manages to win Betty.
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