Set during King Philip's War, this novel takes place in the frontier community of Wish-Ton-Wish. After many years of war between the natives and the English settlers, a family is split between the two sides. The "wept" is a young girl, Ruth Heathcote, who, abducted by Native Americans, grows to marry their leader, Conanchet. Cooper contrasts the bloodthirsty piety of the Puritan preacher Meek Wolfe with the nobility of Conanchet.