Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. The Rescue depicts Civil war that rages between the native tribes of the Malay straits. Captain Tim Wingard sides with the Rajah Hassim. An English yacht blunders into this confusion and runs aground. When Wingard goes aboard to offer assistance, the crew gives him insolence, not gratitude. He prepares to leave then sees a woman. She captivates him, literally holds him spellbound. It is a spell that soon wrecks all his hopes and leads to the failure of the important cause to which he is bound.