Law and Lead

Cattlemen's Association agent Jimmy Sawyer successfully wraps up another case and is about to take a well-deserved vacation when he finds out that another agent, Ned Hyland, is investigating a bandit called the Juarez Kid. Jimmy is stunned, because he himself captured and reformed the Juarez Kid, who is now known as Pancho Gonzales, three years before. Jimmy takes over the case and goes to visit Pancho. Pancho, meanwhile, is himself greatly upset by the bandit, who has falsely assumed his former name, and swears to his mother that he will discover the scoundrel's identity. Jimmy arrives at the ranch of Hawley and his daughter Hope, who treats Jimmy with suspicion. She warms up once he tells her that he is not a law agent, and she tells him that her father was wounded in the Juarez Kid's latest stagecoach robbery. Pancho, on the trail of the false Juarez Kid, is shot by him and is eventually found by Jimmy, who was following Pancho's dog, "Friday." Friday carries a mysterious note that appears to be meant for the bandit, and after Jimmy helps Pancho, he follows Friday again to find the note's recipient. Back on the Hawley ranch, Hope discusses Jimmy with hired hand Steve Bradley, who proposes to her and intimates that her father is the outlaw. Friday comes to Steve and Hope, and while Steve follows the dog, Hope goes home even more suspicious of her father, as Friday was headed toward their ranch. Steve goes to the saloon owned by Pancho and his mother, Señora Gonzales, and talks with the señora. Steve tells her that all is going according to plan, with Hope suspecting her father of the crimes. The señora protests that even though Steve is her nephew and she must therefore help him, she is worried about Pancho. Steve tells her she must obey him and leaves. The señora then finds the injured Pancho and tends to him until Jimmy arrives. Jimmy questions Pancho about Steve and the Hawleys, while at their ranch, the Hawleys read a newspaper article identifying Jimmy. Jimmy goes to the ranch, and after Hope bitterly accuses him of being a spy, she tells him that her father has disappeared. After Hope leaves to search for Hawley, Jimmy sees Steve prowling in the house, and after a fight, Steve escapes dressed in his bandit costume. At Pancho's saloon, Hawley finally convinces Hope of his innocence, while in the back, the señora meets Steve. Jimmy sneaks up on them and captures Steve, and after Steve agrees not to implicate the señora, Jimmy tells him that he will try to help him. Hope apologizes to Jimmy, and he tells her he will be back during his vacation.