The posse interrogates them: a young, well-spoken man, Donald Martin; a Mexican, Juan Martínez; and an old man, Alva Hardwicke. Martin claims that he purchased the cattle from Kinkaid but received no bill of sale. No one believes Martin, and the posse decides to hang the three men at sunrise. Martin writes a letter to his wife and asks Davies, the only member of the posse that he trusts, to deliver it. Davies reads the letter, and, hoping to save Martin's life, shows it to the others. Davies believes that Martin is innocent and does not deserve to die. The Mexican "Juan" is recognized as a gambler named Francisco Morez. He tries to escape and is shot and wounded. The posse discovers that Morez has Kinkaid's gun. Major Tetley wants the men to be lynched immediately. A vote is taken as to whether the men should be hanged or taken back to stand trial. Only seven, among them Davies, Gerald Tetley, Gil and Art, vote to take the men back to town alive; the rest support immediate hanging. Gil tries to stop it, but is overpowered. After the lynching, the posse heads back towards Bridger's Wells and immediately encounters Sheriff Risley, who tells them that Lawrence Kinkaid is not dead and that the men who shot him have been arrested. Risley strips the deputy of his badge and asks Davies who is responsible. “All but seven,” Davies replies, and the sheriff declares “God better have mercy on you. You won't get any from me.” The men of the posse gather in Darby's Saloon and drink in silence. Major Tetley returns to his house, shuts out his son (who condemns his sadistic behavior), goes to his study, and closes the door, before a gunshot is heard from within. In the saloon, Gil reads Martin's letter to Art while members of the posse listen. In the letter, Martin confessed feeling sorry for the posse members, who will have to live with what they have done for the rest of their lives. In the final scene Gil and Art head out of town by the same route they rode in to deliver the letter and $500 ($ today) raised by those in the posse for Martin's wife. Cast Production Director William A. Wellman loved the novel and wanted to adapt it into a film and then interested Darryl F. Zanuck in producing it.