When Caroline boards a train in Chicago to California, she sees a soldier looking lost and out-of-place in the city scene. She thinks of all the soldiers that must have been displaced by World War II and takes pity on him. As the train passes through Nebraska the next day, the same soldier approaches her and buys her a drink. She is surprised by how confident and comfortable he looks now, almost like a different person from the man she saw yesterday. Caroline proudly tells him about her brother who just enlisted to help with the war. The soldier introduces himself as Joe Purvis and explains that he is being sent to Sacramento to instruct the new soldiers. He is only twenty-three but has been in the army since he was sixteen. Caroline asks why he joined so young, and he only mentions there was nothing to do in his hometown but listen to passing trains. Joe talks about all the lovers he took while stationed abroad, a wide range of women from places like Hawaii and Panama. When they meet again on the train the next morning, Joe reveals that he made a huge profit from playing poker with new recruits. Caroline scolds him for leaving those new soldiers during their first weeks away from home. He is indifferent to their struggle, and Caroline realizes the ruthless rules of war that made Joe a superior due to his experience, regardless of his attitude. After saying goodbye, Joe approaches Caroline one last time to ask for an aspirin. He asks her to let him stay in her bed because of his headache, but Caroline sees through his plans and tells him to go away. She grows afraid when he refuses to leave, and he criticizes her for being a tease. She reveals that she just thought he was lonely, and he finally leaves. At the Sacramento stop, Caroline watches Joe walk away through her window.