Even at a young age, Amos shows a great aptitude for learning and a healthy appetite for hard work; he seizes upon a chance to become a servitor at Oxford and thence a curate.But once he has crossed the hurdles of brash Oxford students and exams, the living he manages to secure seems to be the biggest obstacle of all. The village of Coombe seems a wasteland, and some of its inhabitants strangely unfriendly. A visit from John Wesley is rumoured, and Amos himself falls in love with a local girl. Things must improve. but will hard work be enough to turn the village around?