The Round Up

Cowboy Greg Lane, a gambler and ladies' man, arrives in Libertyville just as his old flame, Janet Allen, marries rancher Steve Payson. Everyone at the wedding party, including Greg's cousin, cavalry captain Lane, is surprised to see Greg because they believed him to be dead. Janet now has misgivings about her marriage and worries that people will think she married Steve for his money. Steve, who has known for a month that Greg is alive, sees the change in Janet and becomes jealous. Greg joins his cousin as the cavalry fights a band of Apache Indians who are terrorizing settlers. He saves Mary, a ten-year-old girl, from a murderous Apache and takes the girl to Libertyville because her parents have been killed. Greg arrives just as Janet, Steve and his cousin, Polly Hope, are leaving for a honeymoon in Denver, Colorado, and unknown to them, he asks their ranch hand, Parenthesis, to let Mary stay at their ranch. Steve is later called back home from Denver but insists that Janet stay on so she can finish her shopping. Janet is surprised to encounter Greg at her hotel, and he accompanies her while she shops. Greg encourages her to buy the latest Parisian finery and then convinces her to show off her new clothes at dinner with him. That evening they go to McGee's casino and Greg loses over $1,200 in I.O.U.'s. McGee threatens to kill Greg because he has no money, but Janet gives McGee her expensive wedding ring to cover Greg's debts. The next morning, Janet realizes she still loves Greg after she learns that he returned to McGee's and was arrested. When she returns home, Janet tells Steve that she lost the ring and claims not to have seen Greg in Denver. Janet's lie is revealed when Greg returns, and after a misunderstanding with Steve, she leaves angrily on a horse. When her horse rears, Janet falls off and a lecherous Frane Battles kidnaps her and takes her to a saloon owned by crooked Ed Crandall. Greg sees Janet struggling with Battles at the saloon and rescues her. Janet returns to the ranch after having secretly agreed with Greg to run away to Mexico the next day. When she tells Steve about Battles' treachery, Steve confronts Battles at the saloon. Steve kills Battles in a gunfight and is himself wounded. Sheriff Slim Hoover, a good friend of Steve and Janet's, goes to the saloon and intimidates the lawless group so that none will testify on Battles' behalf. Janet stays at the ranch to care for Steve, and Greg overhears her tell Polly that this incident has reaffirmed her true love for her husband. When McGee opens a casino in Libertyville, he bribes Greg into giving him the cavalry troop movements in exchange for Janet's wedding ring. When McGee refuses to turn over the ring, a drunken Greg goes to warn Janet, and Steve misinterprets the tender moment he sees between the two and goes drinking. After playing a hand in his casino against McGee in which McGee cheats, Steve strongarms his way into McGee's office just as an unknown assailant shoots him. Steve escapes but circumstantial evidence points to him as McGee's murderer. Steve leaves Janet and heads to Pine Springs, and Janet beseeches Greg to help her after he admits to killing McGee. In Pine Springs, Steve is taken hostage by Crandall's gang, who are illegally selling rifles to the Apache Indians. Greg arrives and stalls for time until he sees the cavalry approach. Crandall realizes that Greg tricked him, and Greg is mortally wounded in a gunfight after he frees Steve. Before he dies, Greg confesses to McGee's murder and assures Steve that Janet loves him. Greg dies a hero and Steve and Janet reunite.