The story tells of the adventures of an Italian nobleman in the time of the Venetian republic. He was denounced as a traitor to the Council of Ten and had to flee for his life. He took the family treasure with him, burying it in an old well in the courtyard of a neighboring village. The prologue, which tells of this adventure, is provided with titles in the old Venetian script harmonizing with the costumes and the buildings of the day. Centuries elapsed between the prologue and the story proper. The latter is laid in modern Venice. A descendant of the Italian nobleman, a beautiful woman named Foscarina comes back to the halls of her ancestors and quite by accident discovers the secret of the buried family jewels. A prowling band of outlaws hears about the existence of the jewels at the same time and by a series of clever maneuvers gets possession of the precious heirlooms.