During his long career, bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson has caught over 5,000 criminals. Now, while he is working on apprehending fugitives in Illinois, Texas and Nebraska, he himself is being hunted by a psychotic killer.
Katherine married Dr. Charles Raynor. She later discovers that Raynor is a sadist who torments her physically and mentally. She divorces him and take their child away. He then decides to kill her but when his plot is discovered he is charged with attempted murder and brought to trial.
A disenchanted young Professor of Semantics at a California college learns of a distant relative's death in Missouri. He journeys cross-country to the funeral, then decides to spend the summer there and work as a laborer for a power-line company. In time, he meets a girl and falls in love but then faces an important decision as to which direction he wants his life to go.
