A decrepit old trail bum rides into town on a mule and announces that he can bring rain to North Fork in the midst of the worst drought in years. A railroad labor boss who is trying to recruit workers, resents the old man's intrusion, because the townsfolk half-believe he really is a water witcherÑa belief that dissuades several men from coming to work for the railroad which needs them badly. When the labor boss tries to get rid of the old man by roughing him up and scaring him out of town, Lucas defends him and invites him out to the ranch, where the old man insists he can bring rain and whether by design or by coincidence, proceeds to do so.