The film begins with some sequences related to the youth of Dr. Ricardo Gutiérrez, his arrival in Buenos Aires from his native Arrecifes, his law studies and a double frustration, as a writer and in his crush on a young woman who loved another man.
A foreign woman marries a rich man.
The story of the irregular forces on the north of Argentina, fighting against the Spanish Crown for the independence.
Forced by her alcoholic aunt, an orphan practices street vending and begging, until she finally runs away from home.