After seeing two prime horses, Rowdy gave a $100 deposit for more horses to the Gufflers. He rides out to the Guffler homestead to find a corral of rundown horses that are worthless. He asks for his $100 deposit to be returned but instead Ma Guffler says a deal is a deal. She has her sons take Rowdy hostage sending son Max to the drover's camp to tell them she wants $3000 or Rowdy will hang at sundown. They ride back to her place but she won't bargain while Rowdy tells them to not agree to her demands. Dissention prevails among the members of the family. Rowdy tries to convince the dimwitted Max and the unrelated Billie Lou to help him escape but to no avail. Unable to raise money and finding it hard to approach the homestead unseen, Jed develops a plan to have Wishbone use homemade explosives to distract the Gufflers while the others rescue Rowdy who has a noose around his neck.
—Anonymous