After two years, including a stint in Andersonville Prison, Lon is discharged from the army as a cavalry lieutenant. He returns to Wyoming to find Laura has been mistakenly informed of his death and has married another man. Lon moves on with his life and becomes a scout, then a U. S. Marshal in the southwest.
Years later he receives a letter from Laura, now a widow in serious trouble, asking for his help. In response to her plea, Lon returns to Oak River Falls .