The protagonist of the story is a former officer named Sergey Gushchev. His life changes when he travels to Siberia to find the relative of his comrade-in-arms. In Siberia, the main character reunites with his beloved woman and his comrade, Stepa Zatsepin. Everyone believed that he had long been dead. Stepa's niece is also found. She got married, and her husband is single-handedly fighting for the safety of the village of Kerzhavtsy, where they live. It turns out that Stepan is not who he claimed to be...