The West Texas Borax Company is practically insolvent. John Graham, the president, has been unable to find the white mineral in sufficient quantities to satisfy the eastern stockholders, and a letter from his partner arrives which brings the disagreeable news that their backers are about to back out, unless, in the language of Missouri, they "are shown" something.
A young corporal in the United States Cavalry in the Black Hills is very much in love with a young ranchman's daughter who lives near the military barracks.
Four customers are having a peaceful game of cards in a quiet café. The atmosphere being heavy, the waiter falls asleep and has an unsettling dream about the ills of alcohol, among other things.
Four gentlemen are talking in a beer-garden; during a short absence of one of them, who pretends to be an art lover, the others decide to make a prank on him.
John Gary, a hotel owner, who wants to revitalize his business. After reading about a reported mermaid sighting, he has his daughter Ethel pose as a mermaid and gets a newspaper reporter to witness and photograph the mermaid.