In a Mexican cantina across the border from El Paso, government agent Harry Hannan is romancing his wife, Dorothy, when he observes an informant he is supposed to meet in a few days. Realizing he is about to be attacked, he shoves his wife to the ground and starts shooting at the informant's companions who return fire and flee the restaurant. Dorothy is killed in the attack, and he suffers a nervous breakdown. Harry spends five months in a Connecticut sanitarium before being released.