The next morning, Sheriff Burke is shot in the back by Carter and his men, shortly after arranging their release from jail. Meanwhile, at the ranch, Kay finds herself becoming attracted to the handsome stranger. Over breakfast, she tells Nebraska that she and Hillman are not really married, and that the ruse was meant to deter Carter’s interest: “He thinks of me like a prize he might win in a shooting gallery,” she explains. Concerned about Burke’s non-arrival (“He may drink too much, but he always keeps his promises”), Hillman and Nebraska ride toward town and are ambushed by Carter’s gunmen in the mountains. They shoot Nebraska’s horse in the chest and Hillman in the throat. Nebraska takes the wounded cattle baron back to the ranch, where Kay cares for him, after sending their worker Manuel in search of the doctor. Carter arranges for Sheriff Burke’s corpse to be escorted back to town by his own gunmen, telling them that he was killed by Nebraska and Hillman for releasing them from jail. Bad weather floods the river, making it im- possible for Manuel and the doctor to get back to the ranch. Nebraska de- cides to take matters in hand. He rides into the mountains, where two of Carter’s men find his sleeping form and fire bullets into it. It’s just a dummy, though, and the real Nebraska returns their fire with more fatal results. Else- where, he finds two other gunmen eat- ing around a campfire and taunting some starving children with their food. Nebraska shoots the gun out of one man’s hand, and shoots part of the other man’s ear off—promising worse unless they admit Carter’s responsibility for the murders.
Back at the saloon, Nebraska looks for the last of Carter’s gunmen, a man named Van Hollander—who tries to shoot the hero, but again, has the weapon shot out of his hand. In great pain, Van Hollander confesses to the bartender—who has been named the town’s new sheriff—that Carter was the mastermind behind all the murders. Another of Carter’s men, Dixon, is present at the confes- sion and sneaks away to inform his boss.
