Before the Civil War, Argyle Dollarhyde had everything a man could ever want: a beautiful wife, three strong sons, and a prosperous stake in the booming cotton industry. But now, Union troops have left the South in ruins—and Dollarhyde’s life is in shambles. Refusing to fall prey to carpetbaggers, Dollarhyde gathers up his family and sets out for the one place a man can still live free: Texas. Where the natives are as dangerous as the land itself.
An evil, living creature called The Sponge appears to be an ordinary kitchen sponge, but thrives on human bad luck, which it deliberately causes and then sucks up while refusing to do the dishes.
Lawyer Dismas Hardy is thrown into a panic when his wife fails to turn up to collect their children from school. He discovers that she is being held in jail for contempt of court because she's refusing to divulge in a grand jury trial a confidence given to her by a friend, Ron Beaumont.