Buchanan rides alone through Texas, en route to his future home of Mexico. He is sidetracked during a stopover in a lawless border town, where a Mexican youth sits in jail, awaiting trial for the killing of the local bully. It seems that the dead man had several influential relatives who intend to string up the poor boy before justice can be served. Championing the boy's cause, Buchanan methodically sets out to undermine the villains by playing one against the other.