Sunset Carson Rides Again

In the desert foothills, rancher Sunset Carson finds a young Easterner who has drunk from a poisoned spring, and takes him to his ranch, where his sister Joan looks after him. The young man introduces himself as The Kansas Kid and explains that he jumped off a freight train thinking he was taking a short cut to a nearby town. He asks Sunset if he knows a prospector named John Ward, and when Sunset tells him that he last saw Ward three months earlier near Laramie, The Kid tells him that Ward is dead. Unknown to Sunset, The Kid is Ward's son Bob and is carrying a letter from his father which seems to implicate Sunset in his death. Sunset is unaware that Sam Webster, his partner in the ranch, is plotting against him. Later, Sunset breaks up a fight between Ralph Murdock, one of Webster's cronies, and The Kid and fires Murdock. Meanwhile, Sunset, who is on a committee to raise funds for a school building, promotes a boxing match between an itinerant fighter Slugger and his partner Webster, who used to be a boxer. When Sunset goes to the Cotton Wood rail depot to meet Slugger, however, he is told that Murdock has already picked him up in a buckboard. As Sunset catches up with them, Murdock hits Slugger on the hand with his pistol, jumps on a horse they have been leading along, and causes the buckboard horse to run wild by firing his gun. After a chase, Sunset stops the buckboard, but Slugger's wrist is injured and his ability to fight is in jeopardy. Meanwhile, The Kid is courting Joan and trying to discover, without revealing his identity, why Sunset might have killed his father. Later, Webster whips Comanche, a horse he is trying to break, and when The Kid tells him to stop, he attacks him. As Sunset and Slugger ride up, The Kid punches Webster. Slugger is impressed by The Kid's boxing ability and learns that he boxed in college. Sunset decides to substitute The Kid for Slugger in the match against Webster, and Slugger offers to help The Kid train. The fight, whose winner stands to become Comanche's owner, attracts a sizable crowd but there is concern about The Kid's ability to box for more than a few rounds as he has been weakened by the poisoned water. The fighters wear boxing gloves, and by the third round The Kid has taken such a beating that Sunset concedes the match. When Webster claims Comanche, the horse refuses to go with him, so The Kid rides Comanche back to the ranch. Sunset is presented with a satchel containing the cash raised at the fight and heads for the bank in town. When Webster suggests that Sunset may be absconding with the funds, the sheriff deputizes two ranch hands and goes after Sunset. Meanwhile, The Kid, who has has decided to return East, asks Joan to give his father's letter to Sunset and leaves on foot. Webster grabs the letter from Joan and takes her prisoner. However, she is able to send Comanche to find The Kid. Three of Webster's men ambush Sunset and take the satchel. The sheriff finds Sunset but doesn't believe his account of being robbed, so Sunset draws a gun on him and rides off after Webster. As hoped, Comanche finds The Kid and they return to the ranch in time for The Kid to help Sunset in a gun battle. After Webster escapes and is chased down by Sunset, the sheriff recovers the cash and also finds the letter from The Kid's father. Another letter, which The Kid has not opened, exonerates Sunset and implicates Webster and Murdock, who are then arrested. As Webster had stolen the money from Ward to buy a half interest in Sunset's ranch, Sunset makes The Kid his new partner.