Dewitt Vanderloo, a farmer in the Vly, a region in upstate New York, hires a new farm hand named Roy. Roy is clumsy and not very bright, but he drives the tractor well enough that Vanderloo decides to let him stay. One summer afternoon while Roy is making deliveries around town, he meets a girl on the side of the road looking for a ride home. Roy, noticing how she's dressed, sees that she must be someone from the mountains like himself, so he stops for her. All through the summer, he picks her up on Thursday afternoons. Mrs. Vanderloo notices that he is always late to dinner and suspects that a romance has begun. In September, Roy asks to borrow Dewitt's pickup truck every day between three and four o'clock. Dewitt assents, saying that he won't take the time off out of Roy's wages because he's been a good employee. Roy goes to pick up the girl, Clarinetta, who is a student at a local boarding school, every day. At first he is shy around her, but he eventually opens up, talking to her about all kinds of things. When Mrs. Vanderloo finds out that the girl is a student, she warns her husband that she is too young and that there will be trouble. Clarinetta starts coming to visit Roy on the farm to watch him work. After some time, Clarinetta tells Roy that he's her boyfriend. He realizes that he will have to meet her family, though he is nervous about it. Before Roy gets a chance to meet them, two men show up on the Vanderloos' porch. One is the principal of the school, and the other is a sheriff's deputy. Dewitt calls Roy over, and the deputy tells him that he can't be seeing Clarinetta anymore because she's a minor. He says that there have been some complaints. Roy protests, saying he hasn't done anything with her, but the deputy doesn't care. He tells Roy to leave the Vly or else he'll put him in jail. Dewitt tells Roy that he thinks he's a good man, but he has no choice in the matter. So Roy packs up his bags and heads out. That night, Dewitt has trouble sleeping. He gets up at one in the morning and drives to the local bar, where he finds Roy. He tells him that if he comes back in two years, he'll be able to marry Clarinetta. He then arranges to pick up Roy in the morning so that he can see her one last time before he takes the bus to Newburgh.