The federal government sends Captain Harry Ford south to round up some moonshiners, and while there he falls in love with Georgia Gwynne, whose brother Jefferson accuses Harry of aiding black agitators in their political fight against whites. The two men quarrel, then, later, Jefferson is found murdered. Authorities throw Harry in jail for the crime, but Sampson, a black leader, talks in his sleep and is overheard by an elderly black man, whom Harry had befriended, confessing to the murder of Gwynne. This clears Harry and allows him and Georgia to plan their marriage.