Fergus Macready, nervous, hypersensitive and fond of study, is, at the age of seventeen, the antithesis of his father, a retired Colonel, widowed twelve years before. A hot tempered, fiery looking little man, the Colonel sees in Fergus his mother's replica. But as his wife's image fades from his mind and he decides to remarry, the Colonel becomes obsessed with the idea that Fergus must follow him into the army and be brought up physically to the military mark. When the Colonel leaves for his prolonged honeymoon, he tells his chauffeur Carrington, an ex-Guardsman of magnificent physique, to see that Fergus is toughened up with P. T. and boxing. This training takes place in Carrington's harness room where Fergus at last not only finds a friend but undergoes an experience which greatly increases his capacity for love.