In the small mining town of Galaeshield, situated in an old river valley, nestled between the fields and furrows, where ploughs of plenty had carved out the landscape, lived a miner and his wife, a young couple of meager means and little fortune, whose affection had held up the crumbling foundations of their house, and whose high spirits and easy manners recommended them to everything that was good and right in the world. They lived in a small way near a mining camp, and as contracted as their income was when the veins and estuaries ran dry, they were happy people, blessed in their neighbours, pleased with their garden, never wanting for anything beyond what joys a child might bring. This is the story of how one miner's good luck became his family's fortune.