 Bill Hawks travels to a desert town to visit an old friend, an Indian who has a ranch there. However, upon arriving on his friend s property, he discovers that it is under the control of the local townspeople, who are drilling for water, and that his friend is nowhere to be seen. The townspeople are unwilling to give him any information, and in fact display outright hostility to him, leading Hawks to suspect that his friend may be in danger or even dead.