Former brawler and womanizer Luke Fargo returns from the American Civil War to his Southern hometown a greatly changed man.

He is greeted with disbelief by his friends, including Matty, and with outright hostility by the rest of the townsfolk, as he fought on the Union side.

Meanwhile, teenage orphan tomboy Lissy, who has been living in the parsonage, initially dislikes him, but gradually her feelings undergo a reversal.

She continues residing there, which causes Fargo a great deal of trouble, as the townspeople, aroused by Huggins, suspect him of falling back on his old scandalous ways.

He does not help matters when he reluctantly gambles on a Sunday with prosperous businessman Albert Loomis, winning a horse race to obtain lumber for the church, and is goaded into fighting Yancey's men.