Tim Euston is chosen as ensign in a newly-forming regiment, but his remarkable good fortune is called excessive good fortune when those who envy him try to get him wrongfully convicted of murder.

It was June 1777, the beginning of the third year of the American War for Independence, in Morristown, New Jersey. Lieutenant Hugh Hampton met the lovely wife of a local merchant at the door to a small barn behind a vacant house. Shortly afterward, Tim Euston (age 17) came into the barn with his violin to practice a tune requested by the wife of Colonel Olney (a historical character). Lieutenant John Hawke arrived minutes later and found the body in an adjoining shed. With a suspicious tone he asked a few questions and sent Tim to get Olney, the commander of the Continental Army regiment that had been left there to protect the town from the tory allies of the British. Captain Malcolm Poole, the immediate superior to both Hawke and Hampton, came along with Olney. They found no direct evidence but teased Tim, saying he was the prime suspect. Hawke told Private John Passey that Tim had come from New York a few days before with a friend, his mother, his little sister and some highly valuable military equipment they had taken from the British.

Tim had impressed Captain Poole with his knowledge of military training, law and strategy. He had gained this from watching soldiers at drill and by studying officers’ manuals. In a moment of drunken enthusiasm Poole named Tim the new ensign in the company he commanded, by-passing older and better-qualified local men. Many were surprised and angry to hear of this, and none more than Hawke. By charming the colonel’s wife and taking advantage of a foolish captain, Tim Euston from faraway Boston, had thrust himself into prominence in New Jersey. For all anyone knew Tim was an enemy spy.

In John Hawke, Tim had an enemy who could malign his reputation and persuade Olney to have him tried for murder. Tim and his friend Dan had come to join up as privates but it has been Tim’s fondest dream to some day be an officer in the army commanded by George Washington. Poole was in one of eighteen “additional regiments” where captains had been given the privilege of choosing lieutenants and ensigns, but his choice was subject to the general’s approval (historical fact). What should Tim do? Decline this remarkable opportunity out of fear of those who envied him? That was unthinkable. But one way Tim could prove himself was to take great risks while accompanying the squads who went after tory snipers. The other way was by discovering the identity of the murderer of Hugh Hampton.

To make things worse, Tim and his sister Sadie began to learn things about the man who had invited them to stay in his home. His business was booming and he was buying land with silver coins. He might have been trading with the enemy, along with the murder victim. Has Tim’s remarkable good fortune turned out to be so excessive that it has grown from good to bad? Can anything, short of exposing the real killer, save him from disgrace and a hangman’s noose?