Dan Harrop, cousin of the vanished Abel Harrop, is the protagonist and first-person narrator of the story. His narrative seems written to explain why he came to Harrop's Pocket and to describe the events that transpired after he arrived there. He notes that "my cousin Abel had always been somewhat apart from the rest of the family" and that "he had had a reputation since his adolescence for being queer." Dan Harrop comes to investigate his cousin's disappearance not out of love or familial affection but as "a matter of principle." He hopes to find out what happened to Abel and then leave.

He discovers that Abel "had bought five pounds of coffee, ten pounds of sugar, some wire, and a large amount of netting" a few days before someone realized that he had disappeared. Judging by the amount of coffee and sugar that...