Ed Turner is a California gold miner. Mary Simpson, daughter of a miner, is in love with Ed and gives him a locket containing her picture. One day while Ed is working in his mine, two bandits spy him and plan to rob him of the gold. Mexican Pete wants to murder him but Baker has a better plan. He drugs some whiskey they have and gives him a drink. Having a weakness for whiskey, Turner takes several drinks. He suddenly becomes ill and drops insensible, The robbers then take his gold and the locket which was given to him by Mary, and depart tor their hiding place in the mountains. On their way, however, they happen to see old man Simpson making his way to his cabin and follow him. Looking through a window in the cabin, they see him lock his gold in a chest. They enter, bind and gag the old man and escape with the gold. When his daughter returns she found him in a helpless condition. She also discovered the locket she had given to Ed only a few days before. It had been dropped by the robbers. Suspicions immediately fall on Ed and the sheriff is notified and goes out with a posse to capture him. They finally find him asleep after having wandered about the mountain for hours in a crazed condition. He recognizes no one, until they bring him back to his mine. There his reason returns and he remembers all. Telling the sheriff of his experience with the bandits they realize that he has been drugged and robbed by the same men that stole Simpson's gold. He leads the posse in a search for the bandits and finally they come across their hiding place, A stream of smoke issues from a cave which they surround and by firing a revolver into the air, the bandits come out to ascertain the cause, one is killed, the other surrenders. The gold is recovered and Mary, knowing Ed to be innocent, returns the love token.
—Moving Picture World synopsis