With her brother buried now in the churchyard, who is to look after little Annie Anderson? There is money in the bank enough -- from a time when she had family . . . and a brighter future. Cousin Bruce knows this -- and skinflint though he is, he takes her in among his own. Thin gruel and taunting boys mark her new life, under Cousin Bruce . . . and when she enters school, the schoolmaster proves no kinder. But in another student she sees a ray of goodness, and a hint of countryside vigor and kindness: Alec Forbes -- whom the world treats no more gently than it does her.