At a dance in a small Tennessee town, an itinerant preacher, the Reverend Olin Blitch, arrives early for the revival meeting he is to lead the next day. He joins in the festivities and dances with Susannah, an attractive but innocent girl of nineteen.

The next morning, as the church elders are looking for a site to hold baptisms, they see her bathing naked in the creek on her farm. Shocked, they return to the church to tell the preacher, and create malicious gossip. When Susannah arrives at the church picnic, she is told she is not welcome. She learns about the accusations being made against her from her friend Little Bat. Although her brother Sam dismisses the behavior of the townspeople, Susannah does not understand and bursts into tears.

Sam leaves home to check his traps a few days later, and Susannah takes his advice to face the townspeople at the revival meeting. Blitch leads a rousing meeting and encourages her to make a public confession, but instead she flees from the church. Blitch arrives at her home and tries to convince her to repent. As he is leaving, he lets her know that he is interested in more than her soul. Her spirit downtrodden by the treatment of the townspeople, Susannah allows him to seduce her.

The next day Blitch prays in church alone, knowing that the stories about Susannah were lies. He tries to convince the elders, but they refuse to listen. Sam returns home drunk, and when he learns what has happened, finds Blitch, who is baptizing sinners in the creek, and shoots him. The townspeople, unable to catch Sam, threaten to run Susannah out of town. She mocks their hypocrisy and the crowd retreats, leaving her bitter and defiant.