A teenage boy leaves his academy after a letter from his father and undertakes a river voyage toward southern ports. He passes through frontier towns, struggles to find lodgings, and secures passage on a steamboat while encountering tavern patrons, drivers, and stevedores. The narrative charts practical challenges and the vivid sights and sounds of river life, and traces his shifting feelings of excitement, loneliness, and growing self-reliance as he adapts to the risks and freedoms of travel.