Walter Smith

An elderly judge crosses paths with a young delinquent who looks exactly like his dead son. He decides to help him where he can but the boy betrays his trust by escaping prison and turning to crime once again. He flees to the house of the judge who supplies him with an alibi for a robbery turned murder. The judge knows he is putting his career at stake but he feels it is worth it for the boy’s sake.

Diary fragments tell of the arrival of Belgian refugees across the Dutch border in winter 1915. Reserve lieutenant Berkhage returns from the Belgian border with a refugee child. Named "Big" by the company the kid soon becomes the regimental darling.