The initial sections, leading up to the reading of the uncle's will, told by other characters, suggest that Rupert is the black sheep of the family, and the conditions of having to live in the castle in the Blue Mountains for a year before he can permanently inherit the unexpectedly large million-pound estate suggest the uncle is somehow testing the heir.

There, Rupert tries to win the trust of the conservative mountaineer population by using his fortune to buy them modern arms (from a South American country that has unexpectedly found itself at peace) for their fight against the Turkish invasion (the story was written shortly before the Balkan Wars).

Soon afterwards, she is kidnapped by a forward party of Turkish troops, and he learns that she, Teuta, is not undead, but the living daughter of the local Voivode, who is currently returning from a visit to America.

They race back to the coast, and Rupert unloads an aeroplane with a near-silent engine from the munitions ship which has also just arrived, along with sets of bullet-proof clothes.

Teuta subsequently reveals her marriage to Rupert to her father, who welcomes him into the family and the country.