Mrs. Wren and her pretty daughter, Mabel, lived alone on a desolate ranch. Few neighbors they had and the nearest were Ricketts and his wife. Ricketts had long coveted the fine ranch owned by Mrs. Wren and went one day to see how he might defraud her out of it. In a spirit of fake friendship, he commented on the condition of the ranch. He finally offered to buy and the lonesome woman readily agreed. Home went Ricketts and soon returned with a fake deed, not calculating on the handsome young man who had ridden in and chatted with the women. With that fine instinct which unconsciously suspects foul play, the ranger, after being informed the reason for the deed, asked permission to examine it. This he did with curious eyes and soon discovered the joker in the contract. Instantly animosity sprang up between them. Off they went on horseback, down the mountainside, firing shot after shot. The ranger’s horse, being the faster of the two, soon overhauled that of Ricketts. They engaged in a deadly embrace, swinging treacherously to and fro over the backs of their galloping horses. With a death grip on Rickett’s throat, the ranger bore him over the side and they both fell into the dust of the road. Returning to the desolate ranch, the eyes of the ranger swept the graceful form of Mabel. He visited a few days and decided, with Mabel’s permission, that he would stay forever and a day.