Shadrach plot
Paul Whitehurst is the son of a wealthy family in 1930s Virginia. However, he likes to escape the neatness and strictness of his admittedly loving parents by visiting the poorer Dabney family. Its youngest son, who never has to wash, is his best friend. When Paul's parents have to make a long trip to attend a funeral for a distant relative, he stays with the Dabneys for that long. During that time, however, an old man knocks on the door, claiming to have been born into slavery to the family 99 years ago, and now wants to be buried on their property.