 10-year-old Chet Bates shoots and critically wounds himself while unloading his new .22 rifle and circumstantial evidence makes it appear that his playmate Danny Sears shot him with his foster father s gun. When Danny learns that the Highway Patrol is investigating, he panics and hides in the nearby woods. Chet s furious father Lyle has always regarded Danny with unconcealed disdain and goes after the orphan boy himself. Kindly Pete Burgess befriends Danny and learns the full story of the shooting. Pete s information (along with some ballistics work) enables Dan Mathews to confirm that the shooting was an accident and arrive at Danny s hiding place in time to confront the quick-tempered Lyle Bates.