Young widow Sarah is rescued from a lecherous French trapper by Hawkeye, but the trapper is killed. His Huron Mingo squaw wants revenge and has Hawkeye captured for torture and death. Hawkeye asks for a 24-hour furlough to set his life in order with Sarah and with Chingachgook, his Delaware friend. The Huron chief grants him his furlough but things turn out differently than originally planned.
Note: The character Elizabeth Shields, while mentioned, does not appear in this episode.

A couple from Virginia with a child seek safety in the fort, only they aren't the baby's parents, but uncle and aunt. When the baby is stolen by Hurons, Elizabeth goes to the camp to bring the white child back, even if she has to raise the child herself. What she doesn't realize is why the Hurons took the baby in the first place, to raise it in place of the baby they lost. Elizabeth has a hard decision to make. Ultimately, Elizabeth realizes the cost of stealing the child back will bring about more deaths and that the Huron couple will raise the child with love.