?It is a time when one?s spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden, and the future but a way to death. It is a time when one is filled with vague longings; when one dreams of flight to peaceful islands in the remote solitudes of the sea, or folds his hands and says, What is the use of struggling, and toiling and worrying any more? let us give it all up.? - Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age In post-Civil War America, everyone wants to get rich. Si Hawkins, a member of a poor Tennessee family wants to sell some land at the right price. However, the price is never right so Si Hawkins dies. His daughter, Laura leaves her home for Washington D.C. where she tries to learn the politician?s wicked schemes. In a parallel story, two upper class young men dream of speculating land prices and being filthy rich. Who will succeed and who will fail?