Jude Linsey is a young man who is content to live off his rich father's allowance. He ekes out the money in and out of Spooner's Drift by gambling, or fishing and hunting beaver in the high creeks of Shell Mountain. Then the town's bank gets robbed and Jude is suddenly aware there's a chance to redeem himself with his family and friends. But the deceitful Sheriff Ingram Bere has to be considered: a man with a covetous eye and more than a lawful interest in Jude's welfare. To mull over his predicament, Jude takes to the timberline with his saddle-broke roan. But events change, and Jude has little choice but to pit his wits and guns against Bart and Dooley Susans' gang of hard-nosed, desperate killers.