The intrusion of the infant into this rambunctious setting has a civilizing effect on its inhabitants. The greatest change takes place in Kentuck, an impoverished miner who feels a strong affection for the child, now known as Tommy Luck. Soon Roaring Camp and its people take on a new respectability and acquire an unexpected prosperity.
All ends, however, with a freak flood which destroys the settlement. The next morning, the survivors find Kentuck with the dead child in his arms. With a smile, he accompanies the spirit of Tommy Luck into the unknown.