Finny and Gene break the rules to have some fun on the beach. The guilt quickly eats away at Gene and admits to Mr. Prud’homme that they broke the rules of leaving the campus. Mr. Prud’homme doesn’t care that they broke the rules and is more interested about the details of their fun adventure.

The tree the young, adventurous boys jump out during the summer has a lot of fond memories, but also left a great amount of guilt for Gene. They were all cheerful and excited as they jump out of the tree into the river below. Then Gene shakes the branch and makes Finny fall onto the bank shattering his leg. Gene feels guilty about handicapping Finny.

On his way back to Devon, Gene decides to stop at Finny’s house in Boston to see how he is doing, because he feels guilty. Finny is ecstatic to see Gene and enjoys chatting with him until Gene tries to unburden his guilt by telling him that he is the reason he fell out of the tree.

When Finny finally returns to school, it brings great joy for both Finny and Gene. They are excited to see each other, but Gene feels guilty for his actions and feels like he owes Finny. He follows every Finny’s whim trying to relieve his guilt.

At the end of the story, Finny figures out that Gene caused his accident. Being guilty, Gene tries to make amends. In the end they are great friends again and are filled with joy of their friendship.