The story of a customs officer who pursues a trafficker between continents

The story opens in an inland village in Ireland, where Jerry, the village blacksmith, toils, that he may wed Peggy O'Malley in a style befitting her beauty. Peggy's father, Michael, favors Jerry's suit, but Peggy has a mind of her own, and takes passage on a steamer bound for America.

Set in the late 1790s, a depiction of Irish villagers rebelling against British occupation (Red Coats) over the right to bear arms.