Heroes of the Saddle

Stony Brooke, Rusty Joslin and Rico, The Three Mesquiteers, become parents when their friend is killed on the rodeo circuit and they promise to take care of his little daughter Peggy. When legal technicalities halt the adoption proceedings, however, the trio are forced to place Peggy in an orphanage while they earn enough money to qualify for adoption. While visiting Peggy at the orphanage, they discover that her foot has been injured, and Melloney, the superintendent of the orphanage, claims that the institution cannot afford to buy a special apparatus to treat the foot. In reality, Melloney and Crone, the director of public welfare, have been siphoning the orphanage funds into their own pockets. To pay for Peggy's treatment, Stony fights a professional boxer known as "the Killer" and wins the exhibition money. When they visit Peggy to tell her the good news, Melloney silences the child and their suspicions are further aroused when they see a small boy being bullied by an attendant. After the trio leaves, Crone orders his thugs to ambush them, and when Rico recognizes one of their assailants as the hospital attendant, Stony dons a mask, and with the help of Ruth, a nurse, they raid the orphanage and take the children to their ranch. Melloney and his henchmen fail in their attempts to silence the Mesquiteers before a hearing of the state commission in which Peggy testifies that her foot was injured when she was forced to carry heavy machinery. As Peggy testifies, Melloney and his gang break into the room and begin shooting, but they are subdued by the Mesquiteers and several of the boys from the orphanage whom Rico has taught the art of wielding a bolo. With Melloney's conviction, Ruth is appointed the new superintendent of the orphanage and the children face a happy future.