On the way to Texas for delivery, John Webb drives his two horses to a stop by Depot Saloon, a small hut along a bluff. A girl named Elsa waves at John as he enters, and his eyes light up. Outside, two German men study John's two horses, wondering where he is. Inside the saloon, Elsa tells John she thought he forgot her as he says hello to her mother, Mrs. Sensentaffer. He asks Elsa if he can look at her and tells her she is prettier than his horses, which makes Mrs. Sensentaffer comment that he shouldn't compare her to his horses. John says that all mothers are alike and tells Elsa how his parents wanted to marry him off to a girl who lived nearby after they got him out of the Confederate army. She asks if it is true that John rode around the Union lines one night, and he says he was burning hay ricks with his friends. 

John then goes outside to meet the two German men, Kurt and Helmut, who are loading his cart with crates and parcels. Finally, John sets off but soon notices that the nearby town is on fire, and he urges his horses to go faster into the fog. As John tries to make his escape, a shot rings out, and the horses break free from John's control, causing him to fall from his seat and strike his head on the ground. The horses run off, panicked, and John tumbles into an icy pool. 

When John wakes, a voice asks if John can hear him, and John finds himself in a low room lit by lanterns and full of packing boxes. A man reveals that John was headed the wrong way and is now in the cellar of the State penitentiary after being saved by convicts. John accuses them of being pickpockets as a doctor attends to his wound.