Somewhere in the Midwestern U.S., the well-to-do Wade Corey struggles to jump aboard a moving freight train headed east. An escaped convict named Doyle Kennedy helps pull him up, and the drifters fall into friendly conversation about their travels. Wade explains that he was driving cross-country to New York City for a friend’s wedding, but lost his car and all his possessions in a fire. Surprised that Wade intends to continue his journey in the back of a boxcar, Doyle invites him to stop over in his small Kansas hometown, where he will be welcomed with hospitality and can make new arrangements for his trip. Arriving on a Sunday morning, the young men break into a house while the family is away at church and steal food and clothes. Afterward, they pass through the town parade honoring the visiting state governor. When the governor’s young daughter becomes faint with heatstroke, the politician cuts his speech short to drive her back to their hotel. Meanwhile, Doyle brings Wade to the local bank, pulls out a gun, and forces him to help commit a robbery. As the security guard sounds the alarm, Wade and Doyle separate. Still carrying the money, Wade seeks refuge under a bridge just a few yards from where the governor has stopped to repair a flat tire. Searching for Doyle, a speeding police officer crashes into the governor’s car, sending it rolling into the river with his daughter still inside. Wade jumps into the water and saves her life. Reporter Nelson Nordquist takes photographs of the rescue, but Wade slips away undetected. Believing he is a wanted fugitive, he spends the night in a sunflower field. In the morning, he comes across a wheat farm and contemplates stealing the owner’s truck. Before he can hotwire the engine, however, he is caught by the farmer’s daughter, Lori Bayles, and pretends to be a drifter looking for work. Lori’s father offers him temporary employment as a farmhand. Over time, Wade flirts with Lori, but she rejects his advances because she believes him to be an uneducated transient worker with no ambitions. Meanwhile, police identify Doyle Kennedy, Mr. Bayles’ estranged son, as their primary suspect, but find no evidence of an accomplice. Assuming a new identity, Doyle finds work with a traveling carnival as a ride operator. When he sees Wade at the carnival and asks about the money, Wade lies and says he hid the bags in a tree near the river, but they are actually hidden underneath the bridge. He agrees to meet Doyle there the following night so they can split the cash. As a storm rolls in, Wade follows Lori into the stable, where they make love. Afterward, Lori insists the encounter did not mean anything, but admits she does not want Wade to leave. When the heavy rains cause damage to the crops, Wade is forced to stay on a few extra days, and misses his appointment with Doyle. Unable to find the money where Wade claimed it to be, Doyle hitches a ride to his family’s farm and threatens Wade with a knife. Wade relents, and arranges another meeting at the river. To ensure he does not back out again, Doyle sets fire to the stable. Wade saves the horses, but the barn collapses, destroying Mr. Bayles’ machinery. As firemen extinguish the flames, reporter Nelson Nordquist recognizes Wade and exposes him as the hero who saved the governor’s daughter. The story makes national news, and Wade is honored at an elegant reception. Lori acknowledges that she misjudged Wade and admits her feelings for him, breaking up with her current boyfriend. When Wade confesses that he was forced to assist in the bank robbery, Lori assures him that the public will believe his story. Meanwhile, Doyle breaks into Nelson Norquist’s house and tells him that Wade was his partner. The reporter doubts his version of the events, but eventually finds a photograph of Doyle and Wade together during the parade and considers exposing Wade as a fraud. After Wade recovers the money, Doyle attempts to shoot him for lying. As they fight, Wade grabs Doyle’s gun, throws it into the river, and walks away without his share of the money. The next morning, Doyle prepares to leave town with a prostitute drifter, but police spot him at a gas station and blockade the road. Doyle drives toward the roadblock at top speed as police open fire, causing him to lose control and capsize the car. He emerges from the wreckage with several gunshot wounds, lies on the grass, and dies. Elsewhere, Lori and Wade flee town, leading the townspeople to believe they have eloped. However, Lori doubts that their relationship can work once she leaves for college in the fall. Reluctantly agreeing to go their separate ways, Wade hops onto the next passing freight train, but quickly changes his mind and jumps off. Lori laughs, and they share a kiss.