When the Civil War commences John Culver, scion of an old Virginia family, organizes from among the men of his neighborhood a company of infantry. Old Colonel Culver, himself too old to fight, turns his sword over to his son and bids him uphold the family’s reputation. With the pride of his parents, the promise of his sweetheart, the tears, cheers and hopes of those who remain behind, John, at the head of his company, marches away to fight. In the first battle John and his men are subjected to an ordeal too severe for any but seasoned veterans. Everything human in him revolts at the useless slaughter. In a moment of panic he feigns death in order to get out of it all. At night he locates the remnant of his command but learns that they believe him dead. He hears himself mourned as a hero, fighting to the last. To appear before them now would be to betray cowardice, so, heartbroken, he runs away. John resolves that to his people he must remain dead; it must never be known that a Culver showed the white feather. They must think that he died like a soldier. Enlisting in another division of the Confederate army under an assumed name he seeks death. But death does not come. After the war John longs for one sight of those he loves. Greatly changed in appearance, he returns to the neighborhood of his home and, under cover of night, revisits the old scenes. He finds a monument dedicated in memory to the men who fought and died for a cause they believed in, and his own name is the most prominent. Through a window he sees his old father and mother and by their actions he knows they are talking fondly of him. He sees her who had been his promised wife, in the arms of a friend and learns that they are to be married. Peering through the window one night John gathers that his father is in trouble but cannot hear what is being said. Burning to know the cause of his parent’s sorrow, he decides to entrust his secret with Old Tom, the darky butler. He learns that a money lender has cheated his father and that his parents are about to lose their home. Late that night he enters his home. After securing certain papers he goes to the office of the thieving Shylock and breaks in. The money lender, asleep in an adjoining room, hears him but John forces him to right the wrong he has done. The money lender attempts to recover the papers but, in the struggle which results, John kills him. Though John himself is mortally wounded, he dies with the knowledge that he has saved the old home for his parents who will never know how it happened, for that same night, with only the moon as a witness. Old Tom buries “young Massa” and his secret.