Set during the American Revolution. Richard Dudgeon, put off by the dour religious ferocity of his mother and many of his neighbors, declares himself to be the devil's disciple, befriends the town's disreputable characters, repulses minister Anthony Anderson's dutiful attempts to save his soul, and takes a certain grim satisfaction in the shocked disapproval of his neighbors, including Anderson's young wife Judith. But when the British Army under General Burgoyne approaches, seeking promin...