Blake Cantrell, an aristocrat from Maryland and a well-groomed cynic, uses his organized hunt to announce his imminent bankruptcy. In order to pay off his debts, Blake is forced to sell even his slaves, instead of freeing them, which causes the disapproval of his guest Susan Griffith.
Later in the evening, when he tries to seduce the girl, she bumps him back and leaves the mansion urgently. However, Blake is also forced to leave his home, since it was sold to cover his debts. He arrives to Cumberland to get a job at his father's old friend, Colonel Webb, the head of the Baltimore-Ohio railroad construction. Webb offers Blake a job which consists of spying on Starkey, the head of a competing shipping company, but Blake refuses. In the evening of the same day, Blake is jailed for a fight.
