The main character in this story of a young woman's ambition to own and
cultivate a large farm is Kate Bates, another Gene Stratton-Porter
unsung hero. As the youngest child, and female, in a large properous
farm family, she has been designated as her mother's helper in old age.
Kate finds this unfair since all of her brothers have been given land
and the older sisters sent to teaching training. With the help of a
nephew and sister-in-law, she defies her parents, becomes a teacher, and
leaves home. After rejecting the easy path to her dream of owning her
own farm, she suffers through a bad marriage but ultimately acquires her
land and achieves happiness.