When Charlie realizes that his cruel and abusive father is hopelessly trapped in the burning inferno that was once the local jail, the young boy summons all of his courage to put his father out of his misery. Severely shaken, the boy is unable to pull the trigger. Motivated by compassion, a large black man, Walter Osgood, takes the gun from the boy he has grown to love and fires out one merciful shot for his father. Now the local lynch mob wants...