After Rod Whitaker and his friends, Ramrod and Half-a-Rod, are tricked by outlaws who steal their horses, they walk into the nearest town, where Rod applies for the sheriff's job. Rod falls in love with Dale Winters and, out of love for her, promises to protect her weak-willed younger brother Bud. Saloon keeper Ramsey is corrupting Bud because Bud's father, Judge Winters, sentenced his brother to jail, where he later died. Ramsey forces Bud to pay off his gambling debt by committing a robbery. Learning of Ramsey's plans, Rod and Ramrod watch the bank where the robbery is to take place. Ramrod is killed in the shootout that follows. Troubled by the death, Bud wants to confess, but Ramsey will not let him. Bud decides to defy him, but while waiting to speak with the sheriff, he sees a note he knows has been sent to lure Rod and Dale into an ambush. Bud rides Rod's horse into the ambush and is shot in Rod's place. Bud survives the attack and is able to name Ramsey as the man responsible for the ambush. Rod tells Bud that his self-sacrificing actions will lighten his punishment for participating in the robbery, and Rod and Dale kiss to seal the happy occasion.