The coastwise steamer "Maid of the North" was about to leave for Montreal when Mr. Townsend, recognizing Patrick Boyd among the passengers, presented him to Elinor Marshall. They were both bound for Patrick's home, where Elinor was to pay a short visit to her school girl friend before proceeding to Montreal to become a nun. Her reception of Patrick was cool as she remembered the cloud under which he left home several years earlier. Patrick, it seemed, had refused to enter the church in accordance with his father's plan, and in the resulting quarrel, Mr. Boyd succumbed to a sudden stroke of heart failure. As the result of his older brother's accusations, Patrick left his home, an outcast, and was now returning after a severe attack of fever in Africa. In due time they were landed from the steamer, but owing to the dense fog the young couple found themselves in an entirely strange place. Nothing was left but to hunt for some habitation.