Richard “Dick” Shelton fights in the service of Sir Daniel, an unprincipled knight who continually changes sides in the War of the Roses. Dick helps a young lady, dressed as a man, who is escaping Sir Daniel’s attempt to marry her off. In the meantime, Dick suspects that the man he serves had a hand in killing his father, and must figure out who his real friends are.

Robert Louis Stevenson first wrote this adventure and romance story in 1883, as a serial in a children’s literary magazine. It was published as a single volume in 1888.