The year is 1760: it is the time of the Seven Years' War and the advancing Russian army has taken captive 100 underage Prussian cadets. The kids are mishandled by the raping and pillaging Russians, but with the help of a Rittmeister now in the service of the Tsar, they succeed in getting away. They hole up in a deserted fort and eventually sally forward to take back their military academy from the bloodthirsty, pillaging Cossacks.
Young Beatrice has trained as a dancer against her father's wishes. At the circus, she meets the famous tamer Ruda and falls in love with him. But the next day, Ruda disappears with the circus. Beatrice gets a new engagement with another circus and makes a career as a dancer among live tigers.
