Xaver Bimshofer is the richest peasant in the village; and therefore, his only daughter Lenerl should marry a guy, who is diligent enough to keep the exemplary farm running. But Bimshofer doesn’t know, that Lenerl has long been a couple with the servant Sepp. So he suspects that every young man in the village wants to conquer his poor, innocent daughter. So that Lenerl really resists all these attempts, he gets a stone statue from Thomas Kammerlehner’s barn, “The Chaste Kunigunde”, which is supposed to protect the girl’s chastity and to protect her from sin by its positive energy.
Wolf Burkhardt, who has acquired mining rights in Africa, returns home to get financing for his project. At the same time, he'd like to renew his youthful love for Georgia, but is eventually, and falsely, suspected of fraudulent activities and returns back to Africa. It is only with the passing of five years that he sees his beloved once more. In the interim, she has married a state's prosecutor and they have a daughter.
In the spring of 1905, the water conduit project in the Canadian city of Canitoga is set to be completed. For years, the completion had been marred by sabotage. Engineer Oliver Montstuart commands the last blasting operation. But again, the explosive charge is too large and thus, further construction is forestalled again. When Montstuart confronts foreman Westbrook, the foreman threatens him with a knife. In self-defence, Montstuart shoots him. Now, he has to flee.