It is the year 1915, and five Finnish men ski to Sweden via the Gulf of Bothnia to get military training in Germany. Among the men are Martti and Kalpa from the 27th Army Ranger Battalion. In the reserve, the troops spend their free time in a café called the Golden Anchor, owned by Sonja Strand....
A Russian officer rescues the wanted anarchist Vera Maretskaja. A romance arises between them, but the secret police arrests the officer in a restaurant and expels him to Siberia on charges of aiding the revolutionaries.
Kuisma falls in love with the house maid Helinä, whom the house's slave Isma has kept for himself as a wife. Helinä finds Kuisma attractive but their love will never be accepted by Isma. A passion play that ends bad.
