The story opens in fictional Topham, Massachusetts, in 1826. After the man Cornelius; Neal; Gleazen unexpectedly returns to town, he involves childhood friend Seth Woods and Seth's nephew, twenty-year-old protagonist Josiah; Joe; Woods, in a dangerous sea journey to retrieve a hidden treasure. Accompanying them are Seth's two store-clerks, Arnold Lamont and Sim Muzzy, and farmer Abraham Guptil, on whose mortgage Neal forced Seth to foreclose in order to raise money to outfit the expedition.