A self-confident man of many talents, Mike Burnham takes a job as a fishing guide in the north Maine woods and falls in love with the sprawling lakeside lodge known as Ross Sporting Camp, where he works. He befriends patriarch Dad Ross as well as Dad's son and heir Bert, who is struggling to manage the hundred-year-old, rustic camp.
Mike borrows Dad's hand-built canoe for an extended river trip, a busman's holiday, and while on the river he learns that the historic old lodge burned down in a lightning storm. The Ross family has dispersed without a trace, leaving Mike jobless and homeless. He befriends and moves in with Cam Howard, a strong, independent woman single-handedly caring for her intellectually-disabled adult son. Cam helps Mike find work, and he finances another canoe trip for the following spring.
While on the river, he runs into Bert, who is rebuilding Ross Sporting Camp on a new location using money from the insurance pay-out from the fire. Further investigation reveals that the fire was an act of arson committed by Bert himself. Mike is outraged and vows to see that Bert is punished for his crime. Yet Mike's vengefulness causes him to blunder. He is caught in compromising situation with Linnie, the spoiled daughter of a small-town kingpin with powerful influences, and forced into marriage.
Mike and Linnie disagree over the upbringing of their daughter Sylvie. Mike takes the infant on a canoe ride and bonds with her, but Linnie calls upon her father's powerful influence to punish Mike, falsely charging him with child endangerment. He is railroaded into a severe prison term.
After his release on probation, Mike is rescued by faithful Cam, who takes him in again and tries to change his vengeful heart. But Mike has lost Dad's canoe, his daughter, and ten years of his life. Why has punishment rained down on him while his enemy prospered? With the help of his friend Cam, Mike will learn that judgment comes in its own time, and that he himself will play a role in Bert's downfall.
