Old Boston, England, in the fifteenth century, is the background of this story for boys and girls. In the shadow of St. Botolph's steeple a "comedy of errors" takes place which, beginning with a wager between a mysterious, adventure-seeking individual and a member of Tod's band of fenmen, grows until the good townsfolk of Boston find themselves involved in happenings that pile high, and then suddenly smooth away as strangely and mysteriously as they began, like the breaking of the froth on the top of a tankard of good old English ale.
Boston is in its days of prosperity as a "staple" town, and on the colorful mediaeval canvas are painted many figures; Sir Frederick Tilney, Mayor of the Staple; his daughter, Johanna; Gilbert Branche, son of a Merchant Adventurer; Ranolf, the Easterling, or foreign merchant; Dame Pinchbeck and other townsfolk and craftsmen, wayfarers and courtiers. It is fun-loving, simple-hearted Tod of the Fens who claims the foreground of the picture, for chance has put him in touch with more than one side of the strange events.
Warwick Goble has caught the spirit of the book in his pictures, and in the portrait of the hero has created a real character whose grimness is softened by humor and friendliess.
—from the dust jacket
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