The 1660s were a time of turmoil in England: Cromwell had been defeated and Charles II, who was sympathetic to the Catholics, was restored to the throne; the Dutch declared war on England; the Plague raged; and the Great Fire of London destroyed half the city!Our hero, Cyril, at the death of his father Sir Aubrey Shenstone, inherits nothing except his father’s title, and works as a bookkeeper for various London tradesmen. Honest, hardworking, and quick-thinking, he uncovers the plots of thieves, diverts a fire-ship in a sea battle, serves as a doctor’s assistant during the Plague, and prevents the murder of one of his friends. Wounded in the sea battle, and later contracting the Plague, he survives all and receives back, as a gift, the estates that his father had lost.