Ronald, a man who lives in New York with his wife Mary, travels to Georgia on a business trip. When he's finished his business, he coincidentally meets Pomfret, his cousin, at a drug store. Pomfret invites Ronald to visit and spend the night before he travels back to New York in the morning. They go to Pomfret's old plantation house that had been passed down in the family. Ronald admires the house's prestige, but as he goes inside and sees the aging Black servants and Pomfret's wife Helen, he realizes that their old lifestyle is growing outdated and unsustainable. Ronald also meets Pomfret's young son Junius. That night, Ronald has trouble sleeping. His room reminds him of his childhood, and he feels a little guilty for leaving the countryside to live in New York City. Additionally, the big bed he lays on, which is meant for a married couple to sleep on, makes him think about his childless marriage to Mary. He finally drifts off to sleep, but in the morning is awoken by a scream. He gets up and goes to see what happened. Pomfret tells Ronald that the scream came from Junius, who had just learned that Rob Garland had died. Rob was a local outdoorsman whom Junius greatly admired, along with Rob's white dog. At breakfast, Ronald sympathizes with the boy, remembering his first memory of loss as a young boy, though there is little in the moment that he can do to help. Pomfret suggests that they take his hunting dogs out to cheer Junius up. Ronald's train doesn't leave for a few hours, so he accompanies them. At first Junius is disinterested in what's going on, but when the hounds discover a fox, he gets excited. The dogs chase the fox around the woods while Ronald and his relatives watch and listen from a distance. Then Pomfret says that another hound has joined the pack. As the fox darts across a river, most of the dogs stop chasing it except for the new white hound. It catches the fox and brings it to Pomfret, Ronald, and Junius. The boy recognizes the hound as Rob Garland's dog and reaches out for it, falling to the ground in grief. They carry the child back to the house and call a doctor, but before the doctor arrives Ronald has to catch his train. He goes back to New York City, unsure of how he will tell Mary about what he experienced on his trip.