Jaffery Chayne is the spectacular one of four chums, the others being Hilary Freeth, a literary man, Adrian Boldero, a short story writer, and Tom Castleton, a playwright. The story opens with Tom Castleton going on a voyage for his health and leaving with his friend, Adrian, the manuscript of the first novel he ever attempted. Shortly after Castleton's trip, he dies at sea and when word is received by Adrian of his friend's death, the temptation to secure the girl he loves by publishing his friend's novel and taking the money and credit from it is so strong that he succumbs and becomes the "literary lion of the hour."

Mountain boy Steve O'Mara, living in the Adirondack Mountains, who loves to fight, is taken in by a well-to-do family after the death of his foster father. Steve is attracted by a young girl, Barbara, who is visiting his family, but she is repelled by his violent behavior.