The story takes place in Kansas, just after the Civil War. Wild Bill Hickok is summoned from Dodge City to Abilene, there to neutralize a crooked political machine. Hickok is aided every step of the way by Tex Rawlings, a seemingly harmless drifter who is appointed sheriff after proving his prowess with his six-guns.

Linda Strong, a bookish, frumpy co-ed, is invited to a formal dance as a sorority pledge initiation prank. Her selfish stepsister and guardian, Eileen, refuses to buy Linda a dress and decides that she is too young to attend. Katy, the cook, buys Linda a dress and with the help of Linda's cousin, Marian, conspires to get Linda to the dance. When Linda's friend Suzy tells her that she was invited as a prank, however, she refuses to go to the dance. Without her glasses and wearing stylish clothes, Linda is quite attractive, but she still rejects all the invitations from the fraternity brothers. She is crying outside the house when Chicago opera star Philip Niles arrives and offers to escort her to the dance. Eileen is at the dance with her fiancé John Gilman, who was Marian's boyfriend until Eileen stole him away.

The crew of the merchant ship Glencairn hope to survive a transatlantic crossing during World War II. Adapted from four Eugene O'Neill one-act plays.