When the Reed family follows their dream of leaving Brooklyn to raise their family on a farm in southern Florida, they struggle to find hired help during the harvest season. So they decide to adopt 15 year old Phil from the Brooklyn Catholic orphanage. With no other boys his age anywhere nearby, Phil soon tires of this drudgery and dreams of finding adventure. His opportunity comes when he sneaks away from the family to explore Pelican Island and finds a man looking for a companion to join him on an expedition in the Everglades. Phil jumps at the chance, but soon finds that he is in for much more than he bargained for. Will Phil ever make it back to the Reed family in the Ten Thousand Islands?