Thornton was in love with Marie, as was his superior officer, Sergeant O'Rourke. Thornton was the favored one, and O'Rourke, jealous, made his life hard for him. Marie had a brother, Jacques, who, while a good fellow, had a bad habit of gambling. One night while at the saloon on one of his gambling parties, he quarreled with a half-breed. The outcome of the quarrel was that he stabbed the Indian in the back and was forced to flee for his life. But he was seen by Northwest Mounted Police, of which O'Rourke and Thornton were members. O'Rourke thought that if he put Thornton on the case he would not take it on account of his love for Marie, and so would be court-martialed for disobeying orders. He figured rightly, as Thornton was about to refuse to go on the case, when he was argued into it by old Kelly, who said that he had been in the service twenty years, and had yet to refuse to go on a mission. Thornton captured Jacques, who submitted without a struggle. Marie was bitter against Thornton when she found that he had taken her brother. She went to O'Rourke to see if she could not plead her brother's cause with him. He said that if she would come to the headquarters that night he would see what he could do. That night O'Rourke sent Kelly and Thornton out on line duty to get them out of the way. And late that night when Marie arrived he was all alone in the cabin except for Jacques, who was in the cell adjacent. When Marie asked what he had decided to do, he said that he would let her brother go if she would pay the price. When she refused he attacked her. In the meanwhile, Jacques' sweetheart had brought him a gun so that he could escape. Thornton, thinking that there was something wrong, had hurried back to the cabin. When he arrived he saw what was happening, and at once attacked the sergeant. Jacques heard the noise, and broke in the door. Perceiving instantly the situation, he fired and killed O'Rourke. He then escaped over the border, and Marie and Thornton were married.