Twelve-year-old Caleb, a North Carolina mountain boy, demonstrates the ideals of hard work and determination when he walks 15 miles to the nearest small town and country school in an effort to get an education. Though not everyone he encounters is good and helpful, many are, and some help and good luck, he is able to achieve his goal.
Caleb is a poor twelve-year-old boy who lives in the mountains in North Carolina. He has to walk 15 miles through the wilderness just to get to the nearest small town with a one-room country school. More than anything he wants an education. His father is an uneducated moonshiner and he encounters other obstacles, but with help and encouragement from his mother and a nice schoolteacher, and a little bit of luck, he succedes in his quest.