Mando is an outlaw in Mexico who seriously wounds Matt and leaves him to die in the desert. Hidalgo controls nearly all of the small town where Matt finds refuge, and nobody will stand up to him. Matt is determined to kill or capture Hidalgo for his crimes, but is so weak from his injuries he has to prop himself upright with the saddle horn of his horse.

"Dirty Sally" Fergus takes in an old drunken drifter with a surprisingly cultured wardrobe and manners. The old fellow is on the run, as it turns out. He once was an extremely wealthy Eastern businessman, but Demon Rum ruined him. Sally gets him sobered up and to show some self-respect. But into the picture comes the man's disapproving daughter, who wants him committed to an asylum because of his past drunken antics. She's not all bad -- but her boyfriend, who is traveling with her, is. Unbeknownst to her, the boyfriend has his eye on what's left of the old man's fortune, which is still considerable. He went along with her plans to commit him because she would control his estate (and then he would marry her and take over her property rights), but that's taking too long. Now he just wants to assassinate the old man outright. Matt temporarily frustrates the killer's plan by taking the old man into custody and -- with Sally's help -- getting him to prove his competency in court. The daughter is mollified when the old man gives her some money, but the boyfriend drops all pretense and goes after Sally and her friend with a rifle.