Wounded and on the run, notorious gunman Quirt Evans (John Wayne) gallops onto a farm owned by Quaker Thomas Worth (John Halloran) and his family and collapses. When Quirt urgently insists upon sending a telegram, Thomas and his daughter Penelope (Gail Russell) drive him into town in their wagon. After wiring a claim to the land recorder's office, Quirt passes out and Penny cradles him. Ignoring the doctor's advice to rid themselves of the gunman, the compassionate Worth family tends to the delirious Quirt, and Penny becomes intrigued by his ravings of past loves.