Shack is a merciless, inhumane, and sadistic bully of a railroad conductor who takes it upon himself to ensure that no one would ever ride on his train for free, and that anyone who has would no longer live. Shack has an arsenal of makeshift weapons: a hammer, a steel rod, and a chain.
A hobo who is a hero to his peers, A-No.1, manages to hop the train with the younger, less-experienced Cigaret close behind. At the next stop, A-No.1 evades Shack and escapes into the hobo jungle, but Cigaret is caught. Shack threatens to kill Cigaret for riding his train for free, who is bragging that he and he alone did it.
Shack is distracted when he learns that A-No.1 has posted a notice on the yard water tower, announcing that he will become the first hobo to ride Shack's train all the way to Portland.
The other hobos agree that the first who can successfully ride Shack's train will have earned the title "Emperor of the North Pole." Railroad workers place bets whether A-No.-1 can do it, spreading the news far and wide over the telegraph, Shack being widely known and disliked.
A-No.1 hops the train and does everything he can to steer clear of Shack, pulling a series of pranks with the help of other hobos, such as running Shack's train into a siding and greasing the tracks, almost causing it to crash head on into an oncoming mail train. He tries to rid himself of the company of Cigaret, who tags along and makes a general pest of himself. Shack succeeds in ejecting the two, but they board a fast passenger train which overtakes Shack's train and ride it to Salem, Oregon.
There, they have several farcical encounters, including one with a policeman who chases the two into the Salem hobo jungle, accusing them of stealing a turkey. They also encounter a Holiness minister holding an outdoor baptism service.
The two hobos reboard Shack's train after it arrives in Salem. The story ends with a climactic fight, involving heavy chains, planks of wood and an axe. A-No.1 ultimately has the bloodied Shack at his mercy, but instead of killing him, throws him off the train. He then tosses Cigaret off for bragging about how "they" defeated Shack, telling the kid he could have become a good bum but he's got no class.
What does the policeman accuse them of stealing?
Turkey