A brilliant young surgeon takes the blame for a colleague when a botched surgery causes a patient's death and buries himself at a wilderness research facility.

When his colleague Dr. Endicott is late for an operation, Dr. Newell Paige decides to proceed with Mrs. Endicott's scheduled surgery. The surgery had already been postponed from the previous day and Paige is convinced the surgery needs to go forward without delay. Part way through the operation however, Endicott arrives and takes over only to make a serious error. When a hospital inquiry finds Dr. Paige responsible for Mrs. Dexter's death, he is forced to resign. By chance he meets Mrs. Dexter daughter, Phyllis, and while there is a mutual attraction, she rejects him when she learns his true identity. With little else to do, Paige decides to join his one time hospital colleague in Montana, Dr. John Stafford, who is continuing his tests into spotted fever. Paige is impatient however and decides to test a possible cure on himself.—garykmcd

Dr. Newell Paige is a well respected and dedicated young surgeon at Baytree Hospital in Massachusetts. The hospital's equally respected senior surgeon is Dr. Endicott, who as of late seems more concerned about fame resulting from his speaking engagements or personal wealth through gains in the stock market. Dr. Paige is to assist Dr. Endicott in the upcoming surgery for Mrs. Dexter, a benefactress of the hospital. Although Mrs. Dexter realizes her situation serious, she is content with whatever happens since she follows the philosophies of the Dean Harcourt, an Anglican priest who espouses that life has its obstacles, overcoming which will lead on a march to a brighter eternity. After a few delays in the surgery of Dr. Endicott's selfish doing, Mrs. Dexter dies on the operating room table due to an error on a distracted Dr. Endicott's part. Everyone in the operating room, including both doctors and the chief surgical nurse, Frances Ogilvie, who is in love with Dr. Paige, know what caused Mrs. Dexter's death. But Dr. Paige refuses to attend the hospital board hearing on Mrs. Dexter's death, and Dr. Endicott refuses to implicate anyone including himself. As such, the board finds Dr. Paige responsible and asks for his resignation, which he provides. Although dismissive of the Dean's philosophies at first, Dr. Paige eventually uses that philosophy to move to the next phase of his life, which includes working for his friend, bacteriologist Dr. John Stafford, in the dangerous mission to find a vaccine for the deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The Dean also assists Miss Ogilvie in how best to help Dr. Paige; Miss Dexter's daughter, Phyllis Dexter, come to terms with her mother's death which she initially blames on Dr. Paige; and Dr. Endicott come to terms with his own life in relation to Mrs. Dexter and Dr. Paige.—Huggo

Dr. Newell Paige is a dedicated surgeon and physician who is devoted to his patients and to the ethics of his profession. Covering for his mentor, Dr. Endicott, who is consumed by personal problems, Paige operates on a wealthy donor to the hospital, Mrs. Dexter. However, Dr. Endicott rushes in at the last moment and in his haste botches the surgery. Mrs. Dexter dies. An inquiry ensues and Dr. Endicott refuses to take or pass blame. The presumption of guilt then falls on Dr. Paige, who resigns rather than blame his mentor. By accident, Paige meets and falls in love with Mrs. Dexter's daughter Phyllis. When they each learn the other's true identity, Paige leaves rather than cause Phyllis pain, since she blames him for her mother's death. Paige travels to a rural settlement to join his friend Dr. Stafford in a dangerous experiment intended to eradicate spotted fever, which has decimated the local population. Influenced by the religious and ethical expoundings of church dean Harcourt, Paige risks his life in hopes of giving something of value to mankind.—Jim Beaver <[email protected]>