When Laura and her twin brother James move to Silvermine, Connecticut, they are quickly informed of the magic propensities of their garden well by pixyish Lydia. The three children become involved in a series of adventures which include saving an old woman from being committed, helping a spoilt rich boy make friends, and rescuing a missing baby heir. For all of which the grownup neighbors are grateful and in their gratitude help the well to grant the children their wishes. Edward Eager, once again, concocts a charming story in which fantasy and fact live quite compatibly side by side and in which magic ultimately is defined as the goodness of the heart.