Fisherman Quino and his wife Juana are very poor and desperate because the town's foreign doctor refuses to treat their son Coyotito, who has been bitten by a scorpion. When Quino unexpectedly finds a magnificent pearl in the sea, Juana senses that the discovery will only bring them misfortune and tries to convince her husband to return it to the sea.

Marcos is an arrogant jai-alai player who seduces and discards women until he himself becomes the object of a cunning revenge.

Two brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, angry Sioux, rough terrain and bad weather.

Wildcatter Jeff Dawson does his best to bring in a gusher in Mexico despite continual bandit raids. He asks for help from his ex-employer Ward Conway, but Conway, now married to Dawson's ex-lover Marina refuses, fearing that his wife will want to renew her romance with the other man.