Western Cyclone

Fuzzy Q. Jones' stagecoach, which carries Senator Peabody, Governor Jim Arnold, his niece Mary, and Dry Springs banker Dirk Randall, is chased by a masked bandit, who succeeds in holding up the stage and escaping. However, when the horses bolt with only Mary inside, the bandit, who is Billy the Kid, rescues her. Fuzzy later tells his passengers that Billy staged the holdup to impress on Peabody the difficulties Jim is experiencing due to a rash of crime in his state. Later Jim, who is friendly with Billy and believes he is not an outlaw, informs Billy that Peabody was not convinced that he is blameless, and he now believes someone is engineering the crime wave to unseat him from office. Indeed, Randall seeks to replace Jim in office, and secretly orders his right-hand man, saloon owner Ace Harmon, to frame Billy for the murder of Rufe, one of his own men who has become loose-lipped. After Rufe picks a fight with Billy and draws his weapon, Billy fires in self-defense, but Randall secretly shoots Rufe in the back and Billy is arrested for murder. Fuzzy finds a shell near the shooting site, which he determines came from a gun with a defective hammer, and realizes that someone else shot Rufe. However, after searching all the weapons in the saloon, he is unable to find the murder weapon. At his trial, Billy is found guilty of murder and sentenced to execution, and Fuzzy is later arrested for stealing guns, one of which he hoped would turn out to be the murder weapon. The two friends escape jail after Fuzzy takes advantage of a slow-witted deputy. Billy and Fuzzy track Harmon's gang while they are raiding a ranch, and stop them, but they are unable to obtain information from the outlaws. When word reaches Randall that Billy is still in town, Randall orders Harmon to kidnap Mary and demands Billy's return to jail as ransom. Billy reluctantly turns himself in, but Randall refuses to free Mary until Billy is hanged. When Fuzzy learns from an outlaw that Harmon engineered the kidnapping, Jim and the sheriff grant Billy a twelve-hour reprieve so he can prove his innocence. By a ruse, Fuzzy, Jim and the sheriff convince everyone that Mary has escaped her captors and returned to town. When Harmon sends Jake to their hideout to find out how she escaped, Billy and Fuzzy follow him, and after capturing the gang, they free Mary. When Jake does not return, Randall incites a mob to lynch Billy, but Jim is forced to admit that Billy is no longer in jail. Fuzzy returns with Mary, who tells the mob that Billy is her rescuer, and, realizing that their plan has failed, a frightened Randall and Harmon take the money from the bank and leave town. As they are riding out of town, they encounter Billy and shoot him from his horse. Assuming Billy is dead, Randall then cold-bloodedly shoots Harmon, and returns to town saying that they caught Billy robbing the bank, and that Billy shot Harmon. Billy unexpectedly reappears, however, and although he is wounded, he reveals Randall as the mastermind behind the crime wave. With Randall brought to justice, Billy and Fuzzy escort the stagecoach carrying Jim, Peabody and Mary away from Dry Springs.