A story of a strange adventure in the jungles of Panama, an adventure into which Henry Stewart was catapulted out of his security in Boston by the determination to prove his innocence of the charge of theft, framed by an erstwhile ""friend"", Al Simpson. Al had shipped with the ill-gained gold, for Panama and the California gold fields. But when Henry found that Al had stopped off in Panama, he stayed his pursuit there, and joined up with the construction company undertaking the stupendous feat of laying a railroad through the wilderness. Stewart held to his goal- revenge on Simpson, suspected of being the leader of a gang of bandits, and the proof of his innocence. But many other factors entered his life,- three women, the dominating Abigail, explorer; the light-o'-love Lucy; and the girl back home. There were men too, who meant much to him,- the honest gambler, the western ranchman, the Texas ranger -- and each left a mark on Henry's life and character. Plenty of adventure here, and a vigorous story of the costly undertaking in which he was one of the few survivors, and the picture of a raw frontier, scarred by a seamy past, burdened by a seamier present, a place where climate and conditions took heavy toll, and where natives still practiced voodoo and the black arts. The story is a good one, the romances seem unconvincing, but the book should provide good vacation reading for the not too thin skinned.