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This drama was adapted from a minor story by Dashiell Hammett and chronicles the attempts of an ex-con to stay on the straight and narrow. It's difficult for he is volatile and tends to get into fistfights when riled. It is his explosive temper that got him put away for three years after he accidentally killed a man while fighting over a woman. His newest troubles also center upon a woman. She bursts into his cabin one day as she tries to run from her abusive, obsessive partner who is pursing her. When he shows up, the young man tries to defend her. He hits an accomplice of the abuser and the abuser gets a warrant for the ex-con's arrest. He and the girl become fugitives from the law.