The utopian community of River's Haven, Indiana, might have its flaws, including some unique views on marriage, but Rachel Browning enjoys her responsibilities as the community's treasurer-accountant and the love she has for Katherine "Kitty Cat" Mulligan, the young orphan who shares Rachel's home. When Kitty Cat turns up missing one afternoon, Rachel finds the young girl playing onboard the Ohio Star, a steamboat that had recently run aground near River's Haven. The steamboat's new owners, Horace Appleby and Wyatt Colton, don't seem to mind visits from Kitty Cat and Rachel while their boat is being repaired, but others in the community don't like Rachel consorting with outsiders, and their displeasure soon becomes evident to both Rachel and Wyatt. If Rachel accepts Wyatt's offer of love, she risks losing the family she has in River's Haven.