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Texas outlaws Robert Marmaduke Sangster Hightower, Pedro Roca
Fuerte and William Kearny, "The Abiline Kid," arrive in the small town of
Welcome, Arizona, to rob a bank. After first meeting Sheriff Buck
Perley Sweet and his wife, the three bandits encounter Mrs. Sweet's niece,
Ruby Latham, the wife of the town's bank president. The outlaws then
proceed to shoot their way into Latham's bank, just as Buck discovers that
they are wanted men. The Abiline Kid is wounded in the ensuing
shootout with the sheriff and his posse, but he manages to escape into the
desert with Pedro and Robert.
Back in town, Buck deputizes members of his posse and
organizes a manhunt to capture the three desperados who are on horseback.
The deputies are sent by train to the Mojave water tank, the nearest source
of desert water, where Buck hopes the three outlaws will go. As Pedro,
Robert and The Kid approach the water tank, they discover Buck's trap and
plan an alternate course. Suspecting that Buck also has men waiting
for them at Apache Wells, the next water source, Robert instead plans to
head north to Terrapin Tanks and cross the Mexican border at a more remote
location. The three bandits soon find themselves in a sandstorm, and
later are forced to continue on foot after their horses escape.
Meanwhile, Buck and his posse arrive at Apache Wells, and
wait for the robbers. When the badmen fail to show up, Buck realizes
that they must have doubled back, and goes in search of them. Robert
and his men arrive at Terrapin Tanks only to discover that the tanks have
been dynamited and contain no water. However, near the water tanks,
the three bandits find a pregnant woman alone in a covered wagon.
Unknown to the bandits, the woman is Buck's daughter. The bandits take
pity on her and help her deliver her child, after which the mother makes the
baby's godparents promise to keep her baby from harm.
The mother dies a short time later, and the three desperadoes
find themselves responsible for the care of the infant. Realizing that
by continuing their journey to the Mexican border they will be endangering
the infant's life, the bandits decide instead to risk arrest and return to
Welcome. While making the dangerous desert crossing, The Kid collapses
and dies of thirst. Pedro later breaks his leg in a fall, and shoots
himself to relieve Robert of the burden of having to care for him.
Braving the punishing desert heat with the infant in his arms, Robert
presses onward, stumbling over rocks and finding inspiration in the Bible he
carries with him. Soon after arriving in Welcome, Robert enters a
saloon and collapses at the feet of Buck and his deputies. Robert and
the infant quickly recover from the arduous journey and are taken in by Buck
and his wife. A jury finds Robert guilty of robbery, but he receives a
light sentence in light of his heroic deed. |
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