Tom Cloud and his 12-year-old brother Bill arrive in Kentucky to claim the farm left them by their father and encounter hostile neighbors. "Doc" Richardson, a young veterinarian who rents a cottage on the farm, tells Tom that the animosity arrives from the result of a wager former owner Major Denning had made with his father the night before the Olympian Stakes. The Major lost the bet and Cloud took possession of the property. Tom arranges with the local banker to pay the old man from a small trust fund supposedly left to Major Denning, provided that Denning returns to the farm. But, as guardian of the Major's financial affairs, Tom also learns that he is responsible for the Major's heavy obligations.