Joe is an impoverished New York
newsboy who lives with his abusive grandmother. While selling papers, he is given a ticket for a children's excursion sponsored by the Fresh Air Fund. The next morning, Joe sneaks out of his
tenement home to join the excursion, where he sees the countryside and the ocean for the first time. After a picnic, an adult volunteer reads to the children a fanciful tale from a story book, a tale about a young prince who is beaten by an old witch. A group of fairies rescues the boy, take him to a boat, and sail off for "the Land Beyond the Sunset, where he lived happily ever after." Joe imagines himself as the boy in the story. When the other children and adults begin their return to the city, Joe manages to get the book, linger, and then hide, afraid that his grandmother will be mad at him and dreading the prospect of returning to his wretched life in the city's slums. Next he wanders to the beach, where he finds a rowboat and decides to embark alone on a voyage to the wonderful, far-off land. He pushes the oarless boat into the water and climbs aboard. The film ends with a distant view of Joe, holding the storybook against his chest, slowly drifting out to sea toward the horizon and most likely to his death. ==Cast==