Getting his laundry from the Chinaman, "Honest Jim" spruces himself up in preparation to make a call on "Bess," with whom he is in love. Calling at Circle Ranch, her home, he finds Jack Rance making overtures to her father for "Bess' " hand. She greets Jim pleasantly, but she dislikes Jack; there is something about him which is distasteful to her and when her father intercedes for him she leaves the porch and hurries into the house. She does not have to wait very long to see "Jim" and "Jack" in their true colors and make a choice between the two. The clergyman of the ranch settlement and the .surrounding country comes to the post office where a crowd of cowboys are gathered to receive their mail.