The X Bar X boys ride into Eagles to meet their father, who is arriving by train after a week in "the city." They are bringing his horse, General. When they greet their father at the station, he introduces them to Nell and Ethel, whom he has met on the train and who are coming from New York to visit the neighboring 8 X 8 ranch. While they are talking, the boys' horses Flash and Star, along with General, are stolen. Gilly Froud, a former ranch hand on the X Bar X who had been fired for mistreating Flash, is suspected of the theft, along with a band of ne'er-do-wells he has gathered around him. When local ranches begin to lose cattle in large numbers, it is time for the X Bar X-ers to put an end to it.