Favor can't bring the town doctor to aid stricken Pete at the herd because distraught rancher Jed Mason is holding the entire town hostage as he seeks those who lynched his son. The son had murdered a respectable townsman, and as a result, Kels Morgan instigated a mob which knocked the sheriff unconscious and lynched the son. Now, Jed Mason and his clan are going to hang both the sheriff and Morgan once Morgan, hiding in town, is captured. To prevent anyone bringing in outside interference, Mason and his men have cut the telegraph line, stampeded the town horses, confiscated most of the guns and stationed gunmen in lookouts around town. Mason threatens to burn down the town if Morgan is not found by sundown. Favor and some towns people know where Morgan is hiding. They have to decide whether to turn him over. And Mason's youngest son is distraught by his father's actions, and has to decide what to do.
—chipe