At a French Canadian logging camp, stranger Louis Graintaire canoes through impassable rapids to the delight of Little Jean, a crippled boy who hopes that Louis will thrash his tormentor, camp bully Baptiste Navet. That evening Louis arouses Navet's enmity by dancing with Annette Bosseut, the daughter of the camp superintendent. Navet challenges Louis to a fight, but when the day comes, Louis and the boy cannot be found.