Composer and program director Harri forms a quartet, recruiting Apon, Teika, Kauko, and Olli as members. Based on an idea from Olli's beloved Raija, the ensemble is named the Kipparikvartetti.
Iris Klewe is brought from her forest cottage by her bank-manager uncle Kaarlo Heinonen to attend school in Helsinki, where his wife and elder children resent the poor foster girl while only the youngest child and the cook show her kindness. Kaarlo’s financial troubles start to threaten Iris’s inheritance.
The young Count Martin von Tandenskiöld who has returned from the war is forced into a battle with a Russian colonel after he harasses his bride Karin. Chased by the Cossacks Martin escapes and joins the old wanderer. On the way Martin encounters adventures and beautiful women.
