The main character and narrator is called Tom Jeffords, who is traveling in the land of the Apaches. He comes over a young injured Apache boy who he decides to save. He befriends the boy, giving him water and healing his wounds, which he got from a buckshot. Other Apache people approaches and take the boy, letting Jeffords free, but they reconsider their decision as gold prospectors come.
A fight breaks out between the people, where the prospectors are tortured and killed, though some manage to escape. Jeffords is also let loose but is not permitted to reenter their land. Back in Tucson, Jeffords defends and alters the prospector who survived and is retelling the events of the confrontation, though he also is confronted by the saving of the young Apache he saved.
Jeffords learns the Apache language and begins a relationship with an Apache girl named Sonseeahray. Jeffords tries negotiating a peace treaty between the Cochise and the Apaches, though they continue their feud. Jeffords and Sonseeahray get married and have a peaceful honeymoon time, before they are attacked by Cochise, who kills Sonseeaharay and injures Jeffords. Jeffords rides off, knowing that the peace is sealed.
