The Man from Death Valley (1931)

Dave and Hank ride out of Death Valley, heading for the town of Mesa, but stop to rest in Alkali Springs, twenty miles from Mesa. Walking along the saloon porch, they overhear through an open window, two unseen men plotting to rob the Mesa bank that afternoon. One is a Spanish voice and the other American. Dave and Hank head for Mesa to get there before the hold-up and, there, they see the men whose voices they had heard; Sheriff Jeffries and Ortego. Since they have an hour to kill before the (announced) hold-up time, while Hank ambles toward the saloon Dave decides to make a social call on his sweetheart, Ann. But she is now his ex-sweetheart as she tells him that because of his unexplained absence, she has become engaged to Sheriff Jeffries. Dang, says Dave. Anyway, to foil the planned hold-up Dave and Hank hold up the bank themselves and ride out of town closely pursued by a posse. The gold is heavy so Dave tells Hank to ride on while he buries it. The sheriff, riding ahead of the posse with a vested interest in the going-ons, sees Dave hide the gold. The sheriff captures Dave, sends him back to town with the posse, and stays behind to retrieve the gold. He does so but is seen by Hank who comes along and takes the fourth possession (counting the bank) of the gold that day. The sheriff is about to let an angry mob hang Dave, but fickle Ann slaps the Sheriff and tells the mob that if they hang Dave, they'll never see their gold again, since the last known possessor was the now, unknown to him, the twice-removed Dave. The sheriff is caught between a rock and a hard place and can't tell the mob he knows where it is, or thinks he knows where it is since he doesn't know he is now a once-removed possessor himself. The sheriff hatches a plan to let Dave escape but he has three of Ortego's henchmen planted to kill Dave in his escape. They miss. Dave rides to Alkali Springs and meets Hank and Ann and all three are taken prisoner by Ortego just before the sheriff shows up. But they tell Ortego that the sheriff has double-crossed him and has the gold hidden under the floor of his office. The sheriff scoffs at this because he thinks the gold is still buried in the desert, so he has no objections when Ortego says he and Pedro will just ride back over to Mesa and check out this story, and he tells the rest of the gang to follow later and bring Dave, Ann, Hank and the Sheriff back to Mesa.When they get there they find a mad Ortego holding an empty gold box he found under the office floor and the Sheriff is as surprised as Ortego is angry. Ortego and the Sheriff call each other a few names in Spanish and English, conclude that the other one is a double crosser and up and shoot each other dead. Dave then discloses that he is a deputy United States Marshal sent out to break up the Ortego gang. He then decides to ask Ann some questions regarding absence makes the heart grow fonder.