Gold and the Woman plot
Dugald Chandos, an English colonist in America, attempts to purchase a thousand acres of land known as "The Valley of Shadow" from Chief Duskara of the Wiconicoes. Duskara refuses to sell and hides the land grant in a tree. Chandos and his son murder Duskara and then forge the chief's name on a deed transferring the property to the family. Duskara's dying wife places a curse on the Chandos family and her descendants, hoping to blind them. Generations later, teenager Hester Gray is a Dugald descendant and the heiress of "The Valley of Shadow." Lee Duskara, a Harvard student, is the great-great-grandson of the Native American chief. Hester and Lee fall in love.