Broken by grief after his mothers death Olaf becomes a wanderer He is treated cruelly until he is given a meal by a woman at the homestead where she lives with her husband and baby Olaf is able to return her kindness when he overhears a plot to rob the settlers of their home He alerts the couple and delays the wouldbe thieves long enough for the husband to file a claim on his land Olaf is injured by the claim jumpers but he recovers alone and forgotten by those he has helped He then moves aimlessly along