Illiterate Blue Ridge Mountain girl Madge Brierly falls in love with vacationing Blue Grass aristocrat Frank Layson, when he stops Horace Holten from defrauding her of her coal-rich lands. For revenge, Holten tells moonshiner Joe Lorey, who loves Madge, that Frank is a revenue officer. After Madge rescues Frank from Joe's attack, they go to Frank's home, where he teaches her reading and writing, and she rescues his racehorse, Queen Bess, from a fire set by Holten. Because Frank has nearly all of