In the mid-nineteenth century, El Gato, known as the singing "cat of the mountain," rescues aristocrat Don Jose de la Torre from the soldiers who burned his hacienda. Don Jose's sister Rosita manages to escape to the border with Sebastian, when one of the soldiers, Captain Lugo, discovers her. In order to protect Rosita, Sebastian tells Lugo that Rosita is the new cantina singer on her way to the town of Cabrada. Anita, the current singer, who is Lugo's sweetheart, overhears Rosita telling cantina owners Luis and Maria about herself. Because Lugo has been paying more attention to Rosita than herself, Anita decides to steal a ring from her which Luis and Maria had advised Rosita to hide so that her real identity would not be discovered. When Luis and Maria discover Anita with the ring, they lock her in the cantina to keep her from going to the authorities. Meanwhile, El Gato's men have killed the new inspector general on his way to Cabrada, and El Gato assumes the man's identity. Because El Gato is really Don Ramon de Paralta, the son of aristocrats who were killed by soldiers, he uses the impersonation to further his attempts to find the killers. When Lugo takes El Gato to his headquarters, the former hacienda of the Paraltas, El Gato recognizes Rosita as Don Jose's sister. After Anita escapes from Maria and tells her story to El Gato and Lugo, El Gato sends Rosita to the mountains to ensure her safety. El Gato then learns that it was Lugo who was responsible for the death of his parents and kills him in a swordfight. Meanwhile, El Gato's men ride into Cabrada and defeat the soldiers. When El Gato, as Ramon, goes to release Rosita, she rebuffs him, telling him that El Gato will save her, but when her brother arrives and explains that Ramon and El Gato are one and the same, Rosita joins her hero.