Texas City

As he and three other U.S. Cavalrymen escort a stagecoach full of gold through Missouri, Lt. Jim Kirby wonders why his new orders direct them to take a more difficult route. As soon as he follows the orders, they are ambushed by a gang of outlaws led by Yarnell. After a shootout, Yarnell assumes all the soldiers are dead and leaves with the gold, but Jim is only wounded and drags himself to the neighboring town of Carterville. Yarnell, who has also fled to Carterville, soon hears that Jim is alive but has been dishonorably discharged because his superior officer denied sending him new orders. Days later, Yarnell returns to his hideout and informs his henchman, Crag, that he has invited an embittered Jim to meet him in the nearby ghost town, Dawson City. The outlaw then reveals to Crag that a secret tunnel in back of the hideout leads into the abandoned Grand Western Hotel in Dawson City. The two enter the hotel, where Yarnell plans to stash all the gold he has been stealing, through a secret door behind the lobby's grandfather clock, and hide when they hear a wagon approaching. Lois Upton, a Northerner whose grandfather has bequeathed her the hotel, and her aunt Harriet then enter. Although they are disappointed to see the town deserted, they decide to stay a few weeks, along with their driver, Hank. Soon after, U.S. Marshal George Markham hires Marshal Johnny Mack Brown to investigate the recent robberies. Johnny is informed by Army captain Hamilton that Jim can identify the thieves, but has now disappeared. Johnny then travels to Dawson City, which lies in the center of the robbery area. Just as Johnny approaches the town, Jim, calling himself "Jim Clark," also appears on the trail, chasing Lois. Johnny stops Lois' runaway wagon, and when Jim then catches up to them, he explains that he was just trying to return a bag she dropped. Both Jim and Johnny then accept Lois' offer to stay at her hotel. Over the next days, Hank and Harriet flirt, while Lois grows fonder of Jim. One day, Hamilton visits, and Lois watches as Jim eavesdrops on Johnny and the captain discuss changing the route of the next day's gold shipment. Despite the new plans, the bandits attack the gold transport. A gunfight breaks out, during which Johnny forces the outlaws to retreat by shooting at them from above. That night, Crag sneaks into the hotel and shoots at Johnny. After the outlaw disappears behind the clock, Johnny blames Jim for the ambush. His suspicions are heightened when Lois admits she saw Jim listening to Johnny's conversation earlier. The next day, he follows Jim and discovers him meeting with Yarnell. Johnny listens as Jim promises Yarnell inside information in return for entry into the gang, and Yarnell discloses that Crag tried to kill Johnny the night before. Just then, a horse whinnies, and when Johnny hides outside, Jim spots him but hides his presence from Yarnell. After the gang leaves, Jim explains to Johnny that he is only posing as an outlaw in order to infiltrate the gang and clear his name. Working together, they form a plan to trap Yarnell. The next day, Jim tells Yarnell that he has been hired to drive the next gold shipment through Elk Horn Pass and agrees to let Yarnell hijack the stage, knowing that Johnny plans to follow the stage to Yarnell's hideout and then attack. During the ambush, however, Yarnell secretly changes the plan so that Johnny is not aware that the stage has been robbed. By the time he and Markham realize what has happened, they must race to track the stage down. They finally catch up to the bandits and begin a shootout, which allows Yarnell's gang to slip away with Jim and the stage. Yarnell and Crag then race to the hotel, lock Hank, Lois and Harriet in a back room, and escape behind the clock. After Johnny and Markham arrive, they unlock the back door and then, helped by Lois' description and an out-of-place rug, discover the secret door. They sneak into the hideout just in time to hear Hamilton admit to Jim that he has been tipping the gang off about the gold shipments. Just as Yarnell prepares to kill Jim, whom he mistrusts, the marshals burst in and arrest the whole gang. Days later, Jim announces to Lois that he has been reinstated into the Army, and she happily reveals that she will soon live close by, with the newly married Hank and Harriet.