Based on the famous novel by writer Frances Hodgson Burnett, Shirley portrays Sara, the pampered daughter of a British officer. Left in boarding school when her father goes off to war, Sara's world is turned upside down when he is reported dead. Destitute, Sara is made a servant st the school, yet she refuses to let her spirit be broken. She also refuses to believe her father is really gone and begins searching the army hospitals to find him.