A traveler in an olive orchard comes across an old man gathering pine cones in Portofino, Italy. The old man speaks English and so the traveler asks if he has also traveled, to which the old man begins to tell him the story of his trip to America. The old man’s name is Adriano and he worked as a mason in Portofino when he was young. He worked alongside a lumberjack named Ettore. Ettore was very strong and worked hard and both Ettore and Adriano vied for the affections of Costanza, a beautiful young woman. Adriano was a lover of Costanza, but one day Costanza left with Ettore to America, who also stole a lot of money from Adriano. After that Adriano was poor, but one day he saw a boat ticket to America and he had enough to get there and so he bought the ticket and went to New York. After he got there, he found a saloon with Ettore’s name on it and saw him working inside. Ettore had gotten the funding for his saloon from a rich Irish man. One day Adriano had gone in and Ettore and him quickly mended their relationship. Adriano did not ask for his money back. Adriano then got to see Costanza and her newborn son. Adriano realized that Costanza did not know about the money that Ettore stole, but seeing her happy, Adriano let her be. One day, however, Ettore was talking to Adriano and he decided that he would pay him back with interest. While he was opening the cash register, one of Ettore's political rivals named Simone came up behind Ettore and stabbed him. Adriano cried out and when Costanza came down to see what had happened all she saw was her dead husband, Adriano, and an open cash register. Adriano was arrested and during trial he pleaded his case, but Simone had people lie for him about his whereabouts. Adriano was sentenced to death. In prison, he wrote a letter to his mother saying he was going to be hanged. However, right before his execution he heard of an escape attempt by the other prisoners and decided to tell the warden of the prison and once again plead his case. The warden stopped the escape plan and took death off the table for Adriano, gave him five years in prison and then gave him his freedom. Adriano looked for Costanza upon his release but couldn’t find her. He then returned to Italy but was shunned by his community as they believed he killed Ettore. He moved into a small cottage in the olive orchard and one day a priest came to him and told him that Simone had been killed and confessed right before his death to the murder of Ettore, thus absolving Adriano. The town then began to give work to Adriano and Costanza returned home to marry him. Adriano finishes his story and invites the traveler over for wine. The traveler agrees and Adriano calls out to his wife Costanza in the house.