Simplicity and warmth in this story of Spence Atkins who returns from the war in 1918 to a small town in northern Wisconsin, with a loss of his powers of speech through shell shock. Spence has to fight disappointments in the search for a cure. Although Phoebe, daughter of a revivalist, claims that only faith can work the cure, Spence holds aloof and finally is cured through a new drug administered in a Veteran's hospital. Faith and science are reconciled by a friendly country doctor and Spence marries Phoebe. A friendly, human story.