In the 1900's, Chad Hanna, a country boy working along the canal in Canastota, New York, is infatuated with Albany Yates, the beautiful bareback rider with the Huguenine circus. While the circus is in town, Chad becomes enmeshed in a dispute with brutish slave hunter Cisco Tridd after he allows a slave that Tridd was tracking to escape, and Bisbee, the circus advanceman, hides the boy from Tridd. Tridd also vents his anger on his daughter Caroline, and after he beats the girl, she, too, seeks refuge with the circus. When the Huguenine wagons leave town, Chad and Caroline accompany them, Chad works as a wagon driver and Caroline learns to ride bareback. Soon after, the circus suffers a series of setbacks, beginning when Albany, the star attraction, quits to join the rival Burke circus. Burke and Huguenine later come to blows, and in the skirmish, Huguenine is injured and sent to the mineral baths in Albany for a cure, appointing Chad ringmaster in his absence. The next catastrophe occurs with the appearance of Tridd, who has come to reclaim his daughter. In an effort to protect Caroline, Chad claims that they are married, and when Tridd threatens to check the records, Chad is forced into the marriage. On the night of their wedding celebration, the unexpected appearance of Albany rekindles Chad's feelings. Chad's discontent deepens after Huguenine blames him for the death of a lion and fires him, precipitating a fight with Caroline. Disgusted and angry, Chad leaves the circus and seeks out Albany, who convinces him that he really does love his wife. That evening, as he spends a sleepless night in the stables, Chad is startled by a dispossessed elephant and his master, Elmer Proudfoot, and the next day, Chad returns with the elephant to save both the circus and his marriage.