Both an exciting adventure story and a wise morality tale, this "story for boys" by the great Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy tells of how two young men exploring a cave discover the dangers of taking the well-being of others into their own hands. When the boys reroute a local river as part of their explorations, they create a conflict between two towns that each need the water, and find that the problem has no easy resolution. As the conflict escalates, the boys are led into further adventures that are as thrilling and humorous as they are morally revealing and provocative.