Anna Sewell's "autobiography" of a horse named Black Beauty is here expanded to include the adventures of the humans who surround the horse.

When Donald Bayne, known in the North as The Wolf, loses his cabin to Steve Nolan in a backwoods court, he threatens and thrashes the new owner, then leaves him to tend to his traps. Upon his return, he discovers that Nolan has been killed in a shooting accident and that Bess Nolan, his niece, has moved into the cabin with Rose, her sister's child. Unable to evict her, The Wolf camps out next to the cabin, but soon realizes that this act has compromised her honor in the town. To correct the situation, he forces her into marriage, but she maintains a safe distance from him. When Bess's sister and "Snaky" Burns, her brother-in-law, kidnap Rose for use in their criminal activities, Bess implores Donald to intervene.

Montgomery Seaton, one of the idle rich, pays more attention to his friends' business than to his marital situation.