This fictional novel by Alan Hart explores the motivations of a doctor. The narrative follows Dr. Mallory from his childhood, where he develops a growing sense of vocation, through medical school and his internship at a hospital, experiencing the panic of emergency work during his early career.

The story then takes him to a logging town in Oregon, where he faces an uphill battle for honest medicine against competitors and dedicates himself to serving the poor and needy. An unsuccessful attempt at marriage occurs.

Alan Hart was the first known transgender graduate of the University of Oregon Medical School, earning his degree in 1917. His pioneering work on tuberculosis saved countless lives.