In late 1865 Tom Mahon and his friend disinherited Virginian Randolph Carlisle finally reach Galveston after traveling cross-country from a Union prison in Maryland. Good-natured, trusting Tom is no match for clever, unscrupulous cardsharp Randolph to whom winning is everything. Meeting Tom's dark-eyed sweetheart Mattie Ratliff, Randolph decides to steal her from Tom. He has Tom framed for a crime he didn't commit then sails off to Brazil with Mattie and her family, leaving Tom in a Galveston jail.