 Frank McCauley has an automobile accident while delivering a $31,000 deposit for the Grantwood Farmers  Co-Operative. As a former criminal with an old charge still outstanding, everyone assumes he has absconded with the money and the Highway Patrol launches an intensive search. McCauley starts out on foot to return the money, but radio broadcasts about his disappearance and his past make him a marked man. When Ed Hutchins tries to capture McCauley at gunpoint, a scuffle ensues and McCauley looks even guiltier when he escapes with Hutchins  shotgun. Reverend Martin (the local pastor) still has faith in McCauley s reformation and he is able to convince Dan Mathews to give him the opportunity to do the right thing.