Ed Weigel, doing well in the west, sends for his mother to come and live in the home that he has provided for her. Ed finds Dave, a bully, mistreating Indian Jim, and interferes, incurring Dave's hatred. He buys a new knife and, in fun, makes a pass at Dave with it. Later, on the way to meet his mother, Ed loses his knife. Dave, riding by, finds the knife. Indian Jim appears and Dave again tries to bully him. Jim, resentful, tells Dave to defend himself. A terrific knife fight then takes place, in which Dave is killed and the Indian badly wounded. Fearing the vengeance of the crowd, Jim hides in the bushes. The cowboys later discover the body of Dave and find by his side Ed's knife. Ed, of course, is accused of the crime. The boys find him and, despite his professions of innocence, they prepare to string him up to a tree. The mother arrives in the meantime and not finding her son at the station, hires a rig and proceeds to drive to the house. She takes the road on which the fight took place. Indian Jim, realizing that Ed will have to pay the penalty for his crime, starts to crawl along the road in an effort to overtake the posse. The mother finds the Indian, learns his story, and, taking him into the buggy, drives at a fast pace after the crowd that is bent on hanging her boy. She arrives just in time, and the Indian with his dying breath confesses to the killing.