A three-act play based in a Northern English pub in 1899. Penniless former sailor, William Applegarth, discovers he is soon to receive a windfall and is quickly befriended by a pair of murderous crooks. Pub landlord, George Nobleman, looks on, concerned about the company the sailor now keeps. Applegarth, blissfully unaware that his life hangs in the balance, finds that his good luck continues but this fortune has untold consequences.