Widow Melanie Parker owns five acres of land which Farrar desperately needs to appease his shareholders, so he hires security man Henry de Witt to apply pressure - but he goes too far, and kills her friend Billy Adams.

Farrar has a rival when the Chevalier de Vaucluse arrives in Turon Springs and sets up a major new mining venture, with many miners leaving the Great Eastern to work for the new concern.

Sgt. McKellar is seriously injured when a bank robbery is attempted while Turon Springs is deserted due to surrounding bushfires.