Fresh out of medical school, Dr. Charles Clayton returns home to the small mining town of Ammersand in South Africa to practice medicine and marry his sweetheart, Jeanne Krueger. Charles arrives in the midst of a diamond strike that has transformed the town into a boom town under the control of a trio of cut-throats led by Terrence Regan. Charles' attempts to institute law and order by organizing the diggers is met with opposition by Regan and his gang, who eliminate the doctor by railroading him into a ten-year prison term for dealing in stolen diamonds. Time passes, and with the help of Baron Gilbert La Roque, a fellow inmate, Charles breaks out of the camp. In the jungle surrounding the prison, his life is imperiled by crocodiles and poisonous snakes until he is rescued by a trader named Noah. As Charles lies delirious in Noah's tent, the Ammersand paper reports an account of his death. Upon his recovery, Charles and Noah set out in search of the baron's hidden diamonds. After harrowing encounters with cannibals and man-eating tigers, the pair find the diamonds and sell them in Cape Town. In order to bring Regan and his cut throats to justice, Charles decides to return to Ammersand in disguise as Sir Edmund Dantes, an aristocratic diamond buyer. In Ammersand, Noah and Charles discover that Regan is selling water, and they blow up the dam to provide free water to the parched citizens. When Charles insists upon becoming Regan's partner, Regan begins to suspect his true identity. Regan organizes a posse to kill Charles and burn down the diggers shacks, but in the chaos, is mortally wounded. As Regan lies dying, Charles forces a confession from him, and thus exonerated, Charles marries Jeanne and brings law and order to Ammersand.
