Being young, idealistic and headstrong are as much a hindrance as a help to Marne Woods when she arrives in Deadwood Gulch. Leaving Aunt Julia's house in Minnesota for the Dakota Territory to join her widower father, she meets and flirts with Ross Parker for several days. Parker is headed to the Dakotas by the same conveyance. He decides he's in love, and Marne refuses his proposal. She rescues a Chinese lady, Sing Lee, thereby gaining a maid. She is only temporarily set back when she finds that her father has died and left her Number 7, which he described as a gold mine, and the kind of rubies with which he has eased his grief all these years. She's made of tough stuff.

But she makes the kind of mistakes you expect a young woman to make. In her role as the owner of the Number 7 she steps on the toes of the older, more experienced staff, like when she changes the name to "Lady Luck" because Number 7 isn't classy enough. She falls in love with the wrong man, primarily because she has been sheltered, as fine ladies of the day were expected to be. Smooth and handsome, the gambler Kurt Wiks is the first man to ever play up to her, and the ever more suitable Ross is working as a cowhand on his uncle's ranch in far-flung Montana—making him unable to be dealt into this hand.

Marne is lucky, because she is surrounded by people who loved her father and are willing to work hard to support his last wishes. She finds honest and hardworking people willing to make sure that his little girl gets along in her new home and receives the benefit from his years of work. They are saddened by her loose behaviour (by 19th century standards) and her inevitable engagement to Kurt. I found myself just begging for Ross to show up and save the day, but when he finally got there, even that didn't work.

So how does Marne discard the Jack of Spades and find the King of her Heart? The Dealer holds all of the Aces and He sets them down in turn.