Tom Brown shows up at Harvard, confident and a bit arrogant. He becomes a rival of Bob McAndrew, not only in football and rowing crew, but also for the affections of Mary Abbott, a professor's daughter.
At the harvest fiesta, Don Luis Baldarama, owner of one of California's great ranchos, expects to announce the betrothal of his son, Audre, to Isabella Chavez, the daughter of a neighboring don named Miguel Chavez. However, Audre plans to elope with Erolinda Vargas, the daughter of the ranch superintendent. When Audre confesses to Isabella that he loves another, she joyfully admits that she loves someone else, also. Audre and Erolina slip away during a feast and meet at a cabin, but they are surprised by Selistino Vargas, who, believing that his daughter has been dishonored, shoots Audre.
Stationed at the Mexican border, a young lieutenant whose job is to capture a ring of narcotics smugglers, spies his sweetheart, the daughter of a U. S. Customs official, in a cantina suspected of being the headquarters of the dope ring.