It's the end of May, 1877, and Curt Prescott returns home to the growing harbor city of Victoria, British Columbia after a three-month poker circuit on the mainland. A new "Moral Action Committee" has sprung up in his absence. Headed by the wife of the new preacher, the committee threatens to cast out all soiled doves and gamblers from the city.

Curt meets the new preacher, "Bud" Andrews, Bud's shrewish wife, Sarah, and their idealistic daughter, Mary. Bud seeks to convert Curt while Curt plans to destroy the committee. Pressures mount for Curt as he tries to help his young constable friend keep the peace with a notorious lowlife, while at the same time trying to ease his jealous girlfriend's insecurities. As Curt falls in love with Mary, the battle for his lifestyle becomes a battle of life and death, and of love lost and found.