Broncho Billy, in love with Bessie Hendricks, the daughter of the ranch owner for whom he is working, discovers to his sorrow that the pretty girl is in love with Ralph Spaulding, the pony express rider. Heartsore, Broncho Billy enters a saloon and proceeds to get intoxicated. During his visit to the saloon, Hal Dawson enters and tells Broncho Billy that the express rider has just received a bag of gold to deliver to the nearby town. He implores the heartsick westerner to help him hold up the express rider. Broncho Billy refuses emphatically. Returning to his bunk house some time later, Broncho Billy discovers that the men have robbed Bessie’s sweetheart. Broncho Billy makes the men turn the money over to him, which he returns to the unconscious messenger, who had been left by the roadside for dead.