Because of an accident at a military drill the recruit Bengt loses his eyesight and becomes blind. He gets to live with relatives in the countryside and meets the young Ingrid. She falls in love with him but Bengt's bitterness also makes him blind to her attentions.
The station-master Fabian Bom is a very meticulous person, and he makes sure that the trains leaves exactly - on the second. To him, nothing could be more important than duty, efficiency and punctuality, in fact, his sense of duty is clearly perverted. His beloved Plum-Plum, the major's daughter, is infatuated with army officers. To regain her attention, he joins the infantry. Bom becomes a soldier who loves the military training, long marches as well as hard labour as punishment. He meets Agnes, who falls madly in love with him.
it's the 1840s and a rural parish plagued by drinking and fighting gets a new vicar who has decided to instill law, order and fear of God into the parishioners.
