Seventeen-year-old Wilsey Grant is on his own when he meets a traveler on foot. The two arrive in the town of Silver Grass, where the other man finds work washing dishes. Wilsey goes out to look for work and meets an indentured servant girl, an orphan like himself. Before long, the fellow traveler turns up dead. Wilsey goes to work at the nearby Emerald Peaks Ranch, where he hears of ranch hands terrorizing the settlers, and he witnesses the shooting of a homesteader boy. Wilsey shares his knowledge with the deputy sheriff, who arrests a ranch hand. Next, the owner of the Emerald Peaks Ranch leads an entourage of ranch hands and gunmen into town, where they kidnap a girl and offer to trade her for the prisoner. When the deputy turns down the offer, two henchmen shoot him and spring the prisoner. While the deputy is recovering, the Emerald Peaks marauders return to town and set a couple of buildings on fire. Two of the attackers are killed, but the main antagonists are still on the loose. Back on his feet, the deputy is able to put together a group of supporters, and they set out toward the ranch, where they have a series of encounters by gunfight. At the end of the story, Wilsey meets again with the indentured orphan girl and tells her that when she has fulfilled the terms of her service, he will help her look for her sister.