In a Colorado mining town, Linc is working with Ben Belden, a prospector who is an acquaintance from their days at Fort Riley, on Ben's mining claim, while Tod works as a stage hand at a theater which is the current home for a production of the opera, Don Giovanni. The choice of opera is ironic as Ben is seen as the local Don Juan, a fact not lost on even Ben's adolescent son, David Belden, who has gotten into fights in defending his father's name. Ben's philandering is even more noticeable on this one particular night as he is out at the bar carousing while his faithful wife, Nora Belden, is at home giving birth to their fourth child. Although not agreeing with abandoning Nora on this night, Linc is the only person in town who seems to understand Ben's behavior. Who Ben picks up this night, or more precisely who picks up Ben is forty-one year old spinster Hazel Quine, who is just passing through town and who has her own emotional baggage. For the past twenty-five years since her parents' death, she has acted as mother to her four younger brothers. She is currently accompanying her youngest brother Jimmy on his honeymoon, this trip in part the brothers' joint gift for all her years of "service" to them. An incident that happens between Ben and Hazel places both their lives in clearer perspective to those around them.
—Huggo