There are men who can at times be stirred by the power and conflict of their own emotions to the point of shedding tears. Such a man was Abel Mason. Unhappily married to the shrewish Lena, he sought release in a love affair that soon ended in brutal tragedy. Abel left home, taking with him his young son, Dick, and together they tramped their way to the North where his roots lay.

It was a hard and sometimes traumatic journey, and at its end there seemed to open up whole new vistas of life and experience. But the legacy of the past remained, and the burden of its secrets would continue to play a major part in shaping Abel's destiny and Dick's character alike.