Tony Cuneo, a handsome Italian musician, though possessed of wonderful talent, is in straitened circumstances, and “beats” his way west on a freight train. He meets “Shorty,” a devil-may-care young fellow, who is also riding at the expense of the railroad company, and during a quarrel Tony pushes Shorty from the top of the car while traveling through barren western country. Shorty wanders about badly hurt, and is found by a troop of soldiers who carry him to the fort. He gets over his injuries and enlists in the army, and becomes the orderly of Capt. Swift. Tony joins an emigrant train, paying for his food and transportation by furnishing music for the emigrants. Early one morning, before the camp is astir, Indians swoop down on the emigrants, and a terrific battle ensues, in which the white men are destroyed and many of the women captured. Tony, a coward at heart, is frantic with fear, and while the white men have been fighting he has been groveling under a wagon. As the redskins rush into the camp, Tony begins to fiddle, and the Indians are struck by the strains of the strange music. His life is spared, and when the troops attack the Indians and defeat them in a fierce battle, Tony is taken to the fort. Capt. Swift is the accepted suitor of Grace, the daughter of the Colonel, and the wedding day is set. The girl is of a temperamental disposition, and she is thrilled by the sweet music of the violin in Tony’s hands, and charmed by his attentions. He persuades her to elope with him. and, unbeknown to her, steals the Colonel’s money. Hearing the noise in the dead of night, the Colonel arises and is shot by Tony, who drops his pistol and jumps through a window. The pistol has been stolen from Capt. Swift, and is identified, and the young officer is placed under arrest. Things look dark for the Captain, and Shorty is in despair. To save Swift he determines to sacrifice himself, and leaves a written confession, stating that he fired the shot and stole the money, and disappears. He eludes his pursuers, and with a tattered suit and a heavy growth of beard he is unrecognizable. He makes his way further west, and in a small mining town one day he sees Tony. Grace has deeply repented her action, and has found out the true nature of the man. Shorty calls on him, and compels him at the point of a pistol to write out a confession of his guilt. As Shorty turns to go, Tony leaps upon him, and in the scuffle Tony is fatally wounded. Shorty goes back to the post with the confession, and Capt. Swift goes in search of Grace. He finds her in a convent, and she tells him, in a touching scene, that she has decided to remain there for the rest of her life, safe from the strife and passion of the world.