Janson Sanders, part Cherokee, part poor-but-proud white, is intent on avenging his father's death and taking back the land stolen from him by a wealthy planter. Parentless and alone, Janson sets out, hopping a train with only a few biscuits and some cold pieces of chicken to his name. Thus begins a journey across the South to earn enough money to return home and reclaim his birthright. He eventually settles on rich landowner William Whitley's land, working alongside the poverty-stricken sharecroppers during the day and bootlegging illegal liquor at night, hoarding what little money he earns toward the redemption of his own land. Along the way, he falls in love—despite himself—with Whitley's daughter. Separated by class and culture, the two young lovers struggle with their own differences while trying to keep their relationship secret from her temperamental, overbearing, and dangerous father. Set against the backdrop of rural life in the South during the twenties, Behold, This Dreamer is a story of hope and heartbreak, in which Janson Sanders is pulled one way by his love of the land and another way by his love of a woman.