The Fires of Conscience

George Baxter presents his new wife, Margery. Paul Sneed, Baxter's neighbor, knew Margery before the marriage. When Baxter returns home unexpectedly one night, he finds Sneed and his wife together. As Sneed runs away, Baxter shoots and kills him. Both Margery and Sneed's father, Judge Randolph Sneed, witness the shooting. Baxter flees the town and takes a train west, where he goes to work in a mining camp. Meanwhile, his wife commits suicide. At the mining camp, Baxter meets a dance hall singer named Nell Blythe. She recognizes something is bothering Baxter and begs him to go back east and face whatever trouble he is in. Baxter returns east, and surrenders to his father, who is the police chief. During the trial, Judge Randolph Sneed presides, and ultimately tells the jury that he witnessed the shooting, that this is a case of "unwritten law," and that Baxter should not be found guilty. Baxter returns west and proposes to Nell.