This illustrative story set in 1807 New York presents exciting events in the life of Nathaniel Griscombe- an attorney who was permitted to practice at the bar of justice but usually sat at his office window and engaged himself with his thoughts and assumptions with not much to do. He was well regarded as a person with exceptional wit and was also famous as a man who could drink enormous amounts of liquor without losing control over his body. But one fine day, things changed for Griscombe when this young lawyer, without any prior practice, started getting clients one after another. The novel consists of several thrilling events that follow the young attorney.

American illustrator and author Howard Pyle wrote the book to let the reader consider how easy it is for the innocent to become mixed up in a fate that no way involves him and for the discreet to become surrounded in a network of events which he has had no part in causing. This book presents fantastic imagery, acting as a window to early 1800s New York, and gives a glimpse of how the court was conducted during that period.