Louie encounters Tuffy LeMarr while waiting to hop a train and ride the rails into Toledo. Together they visit a hobo 'jungle' where they run into trouble. Meanwhile, the Werner family, Anton, his wife, Marta and their teenage daughters, Mary and Iris, face an unexpected devistating disappointment.

Despite an abusive upbringing and small stature, young Louis House is
a scrapper.  After taking his last beating, he flees the family farm.
Meanwhile, another teenager, the strapping, happy-go-lucky Tuffy Lemarr, has his own reasons for leaving.