In which the industrious Ross family undertakes the formidable task of setting up an oil well in the promising fields of Beach City, navigating the complexities of business alliances, public works, and the rugged machinery that heralds the promise of prosperity. Amidst the clatter of steel and the scramble of leases, young Bunny observes the shifting human landscape, from the moral quandaries stirred by a scrupulous youth to the genteel pursuits of his ageing grandmother and aunt, revealing the manifold faces of ambition and grace in a rapidly changing world.