Cal Trask is considered the "bad" son of taciturn Salinas Valley lettuce farmer Adam Trask. Although Cal always means well, he just can't stay out of trouble. Neither is Cal able to match the high esteem in which his father holds his "good" brother Aron. Only Aron's girl friend Abra and kindly old Doctor Sam seem to be able to see the essential goodness in the troublesome Cal. In an effort to win his father's love, Cal purchases a fresh lettuce crop to replace the ruined beans that threatened to bankrupt his family. But Adam rejects the gift and comes to realizes that Cal knows that Kate is Cal and Aron's mother, whom both boys thought was long dead.