Plot

After years of mining, Steve Brant finally strikes it rich and plans to use his new fortune to give his wife Helen all of the things that she has had to do without. Helen, however, is already fed up with her lifestyle, so she agrees to run away with the mysterious Craig Wells. Even the elopement cannot change Steve's plans and he sends Helen a package filled with money. The gesture makes her realize how much she loves Steve, and she insists on turning back, but Craig, who is wanted for stealing government funds, refuses. Helen and Craig fight, and during the struggle, she is shot accidentally, after which Craig deserts her. Eventually, Steve finds Helen and nurses her back to health, while the authorities capture Craig and hang him.

Helen Brant, wife of Steve Brant, had known nothing for years but the solitude of the desert, and she longed for the pleasure of the outer world. Steve Brant and his partner Cal Hearn were miners. Their years of work were nearing conclusion, and Steve was overjoyed with the thought that within a few more months he could take his wife back to God's country. Men of the government reclamation service came to the section, and Craig Wells, the paymaster, while in search of water, met Helen Brant, and became attracted to her. Later, while her husband and Cal Hearn were hard at work, she told Wells of how she came to marry Steve Brant. "Years ago her husband, Cal Hearn and Mike Donovan were three mining partners. The saloon keeper at a frontier mining town had a pretty daughter, named Ruth. The girl served the miners with food and drink. One day the girl was made the subject of an insult and Mike Donovan went to her rescue. A struggle ensued in which Mike, struck on the head with a bottle, was felled to the floor. Steve Brant and Cal Hearn rushed to Mike's assistance. The three partners were about to be overpowered by a gang of desperadoes when Cal Hearn drew his revolver, shot the leader of the gang in the wrist. Mike Donovan and Ruth, the girl, were married, and Steve Brant and Cal Hearn were present at the ceremony," continued Mrs. Brant. "As a result of the union, I was born, but my mother passed away. Leaving me with friends, the three returned to the desert to search for gold. Later, my father and the desperado with whom he once before had fought, met again. The desperado shot and killed my father, and in turn he was slain by Steve Brant. They worked and slaved for me in this here hell hole. And with the passing of years when Steve asked me to be his wife, I consented, more out of pity than anything else, as I felt I owed him something." Following Helen Brant's story, she and Craig Wells met frequently. He eventually induced her to flee with him to the big city. Cal Hearn, however, who had heard Helen's agreement to elope with Wells, informed Steve, who remarked that he would not interfere if his wife loved the man. Taking the payroll, Wells fled with Helen. But before she left Steve had taken the gold which he had saved and placed it in Helen's bag with a note. At midday a party of men from the government reclamation camp rode up to the shack and informed Steve and Cal that Craig Wells had disappeared with the payroll. Not wanting Helen to run away with a thief Steve and Cal started out after Wells. Wells' horse stepped into a treacherous hole, and its leg was broken. While Wells went back to look over the trail, Helen followed instructions to unload everything she could spare out of the saddle bags. As she unloaded the bags, she found the gold and a note from her husband, which read: "I am enclosing a little gift for you to get a start on. I realize now that you did not get a chance to pick your man. God bless and keep you, girl." Back on the trail Wells discovered that he was pursued. He turned to Helen, seized the gold and was about to take it when she exclaimed: "It is all right to take his wife, but you cannot take what he has slaved for 20 years to get." Wells tried to force the woman to go with him, but she refused. A struggle followed and she was overcome. Wells took the gold and the water bags, and rode off on the one sound horse. It was not long before the pursuers reached Helen. Steve took her back to the shack, while Cal, his partner, led the pursuers on after Wells. Hell's Gate, a western village, was the only outlet from the desert and Craig rode into the town. The horse was recognized by the sheriff as the animal the officer had sold to Steve Brant a year ago. As he questioned Wells regarding the ownership of the horse, the pursuers arrived. Wells' identity and his crime were explained, and the sheriff placed him in jail. Back in Steve Brant's shack a doctor was quickly summoned, and he said that Helen would live. The husband was overjoyed, for Helen had finally realized her abiding love for him. In the little western village Cal Hearn and his companions obtained possession of the jail keys. The sheriff was conveniently absent. They took Wells out of jail, and the prisoner, with hands tied behind his back, and surrounded by the men, one of whom carried a rope, rode away. Later the posse returned--with one riderless horse.—Moving Picture World synopsis