Over the Ural and on this side of the Ocean, in the middle of the vast Siberian snow-fields stood a steelworks. It manufactures special armour-alloys for the army. Our main character, Ignat, is a young worker in the rolling mill. He faces death every day but it is so natural in the factory that he does not even notice it. That is why, from mere ennui, he is seeking ever so dangerous adventures between two shifts. He steals sheep from the nomad natives, the Bashkirs, robs trains with his gangster-like relatives and finally he agrees to accept the challenge to fight instead of his friend in a boxing match sure to lead to a fatal end. In a terrible fight, he wins and after the match, for first time in his life, he falls in deep thought about his own life.