"Eleven-year old Florilla Munion is the daughter of Jack Munion a magician who bills himself as the Wizard Of The Pines. Florillas mother is dead and her abusive father has left her with her grandmother, old Peggy Munion, known locally as a witch. Now Peggy Munion has died and the child is alone. When Dr. Peace, the black doctor of the Pines, arrives to discover this, he takes Florilla to his friend Benjamin Bender. Benjamin Bender is a classicist, utopian socialist and enlightened owner of the Benderville Mills, a textile mill in the heart of the Pines. Dr. Peace is convinced that Florilla has psychic and healing powers and would be valuable to her violent, feckless father in his act. He feels that Benderville can provide safety and the schooling she deserves. Reluctantly, Benjamin Bender agrees to take her. Although Florilla has run wild in the woods for the past five years of living with her grandmother, she adapts to life at Benderville, becoming Benjamin Benders apt pupil, easily learning Latin and Greek. Her father shows up, is paid off, but periodically sends requests for more money. Jack Munion is an ordinary sleight of hand magician, and Benjamin Bender knows that, having some idea of her abilities, what he really wants is the girl herself. When Florilla reaches her late teens, Benjamin Bender, afraid that he wont be able to keep her out of Munions clutches, tries to marry her off"--