Life wasn't easy for the seven Bradcox children and their three young cousins, who were a part of the family. The mother, worn out and over burdened, had left them for her heavenly home. Their father, hearing of his wife's departure from this life, made the decision to do what he could for the children he had deserted ten years before. Disguised as a tramp, he went home and talked David, the oldest, into letting him live in the shed and work for his board. Uncle Pete, as the father came to be called, made life much easier for David and Rachel, who had both made commitments to the mother to keep the children together and raise them. When the Ford family moved in across the road, romance developed, and problems arose which Uncle Pete couldn't seem to solve.