Dick Alden, a 12-year-old boy mistreated by his stepfather and picked on by the other residents of his village, is wrongly accused of setting fire to the local schoolhouse. He runs away but vows to take his revenge on the village. Years later he gets his chance when he returns to take over the mill he has inherited--he plans to close it down, which would throw most of the people out of work and destroy the economy. However, he runs into someone from his past that could put a halt to his plans.