[1] When his father dies, Hector returns after 20 years in Canada to the Vosges mountains in order to take over the family sawmill.

This incurs the wrath of Therraz, owner of a timber business further down the valley who does not want a competitor with lower costs, and battles ensue between rival groups of woodcutters.

One parolee, called Reichmann, was held back and eventually Hector is told that he will be arriving by bus the day after the village fête.

Returning to the sawmill, he finds the police taking all the parolees back to jail and learns that Laurent's motive for hiring them was to get Reichmann into a lonely place where he could kill him.

In despair at the treachery, and the failure of his dream, Hector decides to burn down the sawmill and die in the flames.