The grandson of an elderly fisherman was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The guilty party is an influential magistrate well out of reach of such a poor wretch. The old man shuts himself away in a deserted military baracks close to the boy’s grave. One day however, one of the magistrate’s young daughters wanders into the dunes and befriends the misanthrope. Nonetheless, the terrible hermit refuses to come to aid of his enemy’s wife, who seeks out his help for their second daughter, struck down by a poison which the fisherman can cure. But the influence of his young friend puts an end to his unassuageable thirst for revenge.