Mr. and Mrs. Oleson get into a huge argument and decide to separate. The Ingalls and their friends try to intervene and convince them to settle their differences.

The Ingalls receive a midnight visit from Will O'Hara, a traveling circus man who, with his irresistibly charming demeanor, persuades Charles to let him set up in front of their home. When O'Hara's "magic powers" nearly cost an appendicitis-stricken Mrs. Oleson her life, Charles asks him to leave town, only to track him down again in the wake of a family crisis.