Flat broke and crippled, a cowhand takes a job from a doomed man
At the end of a backbreaking cattle drive, a steer turns on Joe Sample, pinning him against a fence and snapping his leg. He will never ride right again. Recovering from the wound empties his wallet, and he is staring poverty in the face when Pierce Malloy staggers into the saloon, blood leaking out of his boots. Malloy has shot the marshal in a desperate attempt to save his brother from hanging, and now the deputies are after him. He has just minutes to live—and he wants to give Joe a job.
In exchange for a small fortune—$220—Joe agrees to deliver a package of stolen goods to the hanged man’s widow. Moments after Malloy hands over the money, he is shot dead. Joe honors his agreement—and in the process, he learns that there are far tighter spots than between a steer and a fence post.