The Mysterious Witness (1923)

Johnny Brandt leaves his aged widowed mother to go out into the world to make some money. He arrives on a ranch where he is given a job. Johnny stints himself and sends all his money back to his mother but writes her that he is making progress. Johnny is accused by the foreman of the murder of an old man and is put in prison. His mother failing to hear from him comes to the little town. She is met at the station by the foreman who takes all the money she has under the pretense of aiding her to secure her son's release. During the trial Johnny asks to present his horse as a witness, proving that because of the animal being gun shy it would have been impossible for him to have committed the murder as described by the 'eye witness.' The verdict is not guilty and the foreman and his accomplices are held. Johnny is reunited with his mother and wins the owner's daughter for his bride.