V Rossii prodolzhaetsya grazhdanskaya vojna, kotoraya razbrosala geroev romana po vsej strane. Dar'ya Dmitrievna i ee sluchajnyj poputchik - seminarist Kuz'ma Kuz'mich Nefedov popadayut v raspolozhenie krasnyh, kotorye podozrevayut ih v shpionazhe. A Vadim Petrovich Roshchin, okonchatel'no razocharovavshijsya v belom dvizhenii sluchajno uznaet o tom, chto poezd, v kotorom ekhala Ekaterina Dmitrievna zahvachen mahnovcami.