Tom Morgan flees from a Huron attack on Morgansboro, thinking his father, Will, is dead. But Will is rescued by Hawkeye and Chingachgook-and labels Tom as a coward.

Weird incidents terrorize a frontier town. in spite of Hawkeye's efforts to disprove the witch stories, strange murders increase the settlers' horror.

Hawkeye and Chingachgook are commisioned by the Attorney-General to guide an orphaned boy, Greg, heir to a silver mine, to the frontier home of his aunt and uncle whom he has never seen. But just outside the settlement an attempt is made on the boy's life.

Arriving in a frontier town to deliver type from Benjamin Franklin to printer Nathan Peale, Hawkeye and Chingachgook find themselves involved in the midst of a battle for freedom of the press. Peale is arrested for the murder of his brother-in-law.