Mary Dudley, a young Vermont woman with newborn twins, is abandoned by her husband and brother when they become Gold Rush adventurers. While the men experience the exotic American colony in Panama and the gold fields of California, she is left to the mercy of friends and extended family. When her brother dies overseas, he bequeaths all family property to his Panamanian mistress. This shocking calamity threatens Mary and her children with homelessness and poverty. She must defy her brother's curse in order to win her independence as a woman. In doing so, she is forced to consider a deal with a...