The Desire of the Moth plot
Christopher Foy, on the run from the authorities, is wounded during his escape and takes refuge in the mountain cabin of Colonel Vorhis and his daughter Stella. Stella takes pity on Foy and the colonel, admiring Foy's confession of guilt, takes steps to pardon him. He and Stella fall in love and Foy remains honest, but when he is accused of stealing cattle, he runs away again. When John Wesley Pringle, who also loves Stella, learns that Foy is innocent but the object of a conspiracy, he helps Foy by unraveling the plot. Despite his love for Stella, Pringle helps prove Foy's innocence so that Stella can find happiness with the man she loves.