Pardon My Gun

Rancher Jim Carter is on his way to town to deliver $100,000 raised by the Cattlemen's Association when he is attacked by a gang of outlaws led by his foreman, Clint Hayes. Dodie Cameron, a sheep rancher's daughter, witnesses the attack, and when she sees Carter throw a satchel into some bushes, she removes the money from the bag and hides it. The outlaws, meanwhile, pursue Carter, and after killing the rancher, search his wagon and discover that the satchel is missing. Upon finding the empty bag in the bushes, Clint remembers seeing Dodie in the vicinity, and realizing that she must have stolen the money, begins to chase her. Arkansas, a photographer out taking pictures, sees Dodie in peril and sends Steve Randall, a surveyor plotting the territory, to her rescue. After fending off her assailants, Steve and Dodie take Carter's body into town. There, Clint accuses them of murdering Carter and insists that they be arrested. Judge Hackett orders Steve and Dodie to stand trial, but when Arkansas testifies on their behalf, they are released. Afterward, the judge, the covert brains behind the robbers, orders Clint to find the money. Later, as Steve and Dodie ride out of town, Steve explains that he has been hired by a water company which wants to build a dam in the valley. Knowing that if Steve recommends that the dam be built in the upper part of the valley the sheep lands will be flooded, Dodie accuses him of being partial to the cattlemen and gallops off. After Dodie departs, Steve sees Clint's men searching the rocks for the money and a shootout ensues. The bandits flee, but one of them falls behind, wounded, and mistaking Steve for Clint, blurts out with his dying words that Dodie has the money. Dodie, meanwhile, returns home and informs her father about her booty. When her father insists that she return the money, she protests that the cattlemen plan to use it to flood the sheep range. Soon after, Steve arrives at the ranch and warns Dodie that she is in danger as long as she is in possession of the money. Believing that Dodie will lead him to her hiding place, Steve follows her, and learning of his plan, the judge orders Clint to kill him. Clint bushwacks Steve along the trail, but Steve escapes, and hearing cries for help, discovers that Arkansas has slipped over the edge of a cliff while photographing some eagles. After Steve pulls the photographer to safety, the two ride in search of Dodie and learn that Clint and his men are holding her prisoner in a shack. That night, the outlaws force Dodie to divulge the location of the money by threatening her father's life. After two of the bandits leave to signal their mysterious boss, Arkansas enters the shack and overpowers Dodie's guard. As Clint and the judge, disguised by a mask, await the signal, the judge sees Steve in the brush and shoots Clint for failing to kill the surveyor. Meanwhile, Arkansas and Steve exchange gunfire with Dodie's kidnappers, with Arkansas using his photo-flash flares as a weapon. When Steve observes the masked figure ride off, he rushes to uncover the hidden money. As Steve pulls the stash from the rocks, the maskless judge knocks him unconscious. At that moment, the sheriff and his posse arrive, and the judge accuses Steve of stealing the money and killing Carter. At Steve's trial, Clint's unsuspecting friends charge the surveyor with his murder, but Dodie testifies that Steve rescued her from the kidnappers and could not have killed Clint. After court is adjourned for the day, Arkansas informs the judge that he can corroborate Dodie's testimony. When the judge cautions him about repeating his story, Arkansas becomes suspicious. Later, Arkansas overhears Clint's friends plotting to lynch Steve and warns the sheriff. As the lynch mob disarms the sheriff, Steve escapes out the back door and rides out of town. In the distance, Steve sees smoke from a campfire and finds Dodie's kidnappers there. After overpowering the men, Steve discovers that they are unaware of the identity of their boss. Steve brings the outlaws to trial, and after Dodie identifies them as her kidnappers, one of the men claims that he saw Clint's killer in the woods and can identify him by a ring that he was wearing. Noticing the ring on the judge's hand, the man is about to speak when the judge shoots him with a gun hidden in a hole under his desk. When the judge pretends that the shots came from an open window, Steve notices the hole in the desk and accuses him of murder. The judge then flees, with Steve in pursuit. After Steve captures the judge and brings him to justice, Clint's friends apologize, and he and Dodie decide to marry and share the reward for the return of the money.