The Virginian is ramrodding a horse drive to Shiloh short handed and is particularly critical of the two Kabe boys Tom and George and especially the crusty father Carl. Carl and his sons quit after a disagreement over their work habits and receive no pay. The Virginian chases two strays away from the herd into a river bed where he receives a head injury which blinds him when his horses stumbles. He wanders blind across the river and along its shore forced to shoot a rattlesnake by sound. He climbs out the river basin into the surrounding hills onto a lone cabin where seventeen year old Ginny Kabe is waiting for the return of her father and brothers. After realizing he is really blind, she tends to The Virginian who needs medical attention and is hungry. When the men return, The Virginian recognizes who they are and that they stole Shiloh horses. Ginny implores them to take The Virginian to Spanish Wells for help. Carl sends George supposedly with The Virginian to Spanish Wells to satisfy Ginny but The Virginian realizes the truth.
—Anonymous