Jan Hilliard's reminiscences of her girlhood in Nova Scotia bring together a very engaging assemblage of eccentrics. Her brother and her three sisters were normal enough individuals. Her father, however, was a man who lived in a dream, a man who listed his occupation as "gentleman." Propelled by an irresistible drive, he was in constant quest of fortunes which never materialized. His one-man gold rushes and solitary oil and mineral prospectings in out-of-the-way corners of Canada provided considerable amusement and inconsiderable cash for his teeming family.