The film stars Bill Williams, Marcia Henderson, Roger Mobley, Roy Engel, Charles Cooper and Harry Dean Stanton.

Unknown to his foster parents, Pip finds a stray, hungry German shepherd, Silver King, guarding a .38 revolver one day and nurses the animal back to health and sneaks food from the Thurman house to feed him.

Hiding the dog in the hills, Pip gradually gains the animal's trust, resulting in a softening of the boy's demeanor, which surprises the Thurmans, who know nothing of the blossoming friendship.

Meanwhile, the shepherd's owner, miser Otto Tillman, who was rumored to keep a large amount of cash in his house, has been found murdered and Silver King is missing.

Beamer, who is also at the station, learns of Silver King's whereabouts and assumes he can finally recover his gun and dispose of the animal, thus destroying all the incriminating evidence.