When a stage breaks down, a passenger who is returning home after three years in prison for a crime he said he didn't commit, becomes upset with his treatment. Hardie decides to take a gamble on him with a loan to solve a dispute.
Jim Hardie is riding shotgun guard on a stage taking money to the Wells Fargo Express office in Popular Springs to forestall a bank run. A wheel has broken on the stage delaying them in another town until the local blacksmith can repair it. The two passengers are forced to leave the stage which includes Bill Dowd. He is returning home to Popular Springs after three years in prison for a crime he says he did not commit. His reception is not the warmest and he takes it out in the saloon where he breaks a bottle and some glasses. Elderly Marshal Roy Emmett is unable to control him but after he leaves Hardie steps in to give the broke Dowd a $50 loan hoping it will give him an edge to change his life. After paying his bar bill, Dowd joins a poker game indicating Hardie's actions might not help. Unknown to Hardie one of his passengers and two other men are there planning to rob the stage.—Anonymous