With her widowed mother (June Lang), precocious Priscilla (Shirley Temple) travels to India to live with her grandfather, Col. Williams (C. Aubrey Smith). A stern officer in the British army, the colonel makes it clear that a military garrison isn't any place for a child. Priscilla proves otherwise, befriending tenderhearted Sgt. MacDuff (Victor McLaglen), getting caught up in the plot of a rebel leader (Cesar Romero) and charming everyone in sight.