Wandering ex-Union soldier Charlie Jefferson strikes up a friendship with Henry and Dave Willis in Pottersville, Arkansas. The brothers are planning to drive cattle from Texas to the logging camps in the Arkansas timberland and invite Charlie to join them. But the plan falls foul of a gang of bushwhackers called Red Masks who are terrorizing that area. To bring that gang to justice, Charlie becomes a government agent, a role which requires all his bravery and fighting skills, and an ability to deceive people -even those he likes.