The story tells of an unnamed narrator, who has moved from New England to New York City and greatly regretted it. One night, while wandering an older part of Greenwich Village, he happens upon a man strangely dressed in garments from the eighteenth century. The man offers to show the narrator the secrets of the town.
After bringing the narrator to his home, the man tells him the story of a squire who bargained with Native Americans for the secrets of their rituals concerning time and space which were practiced on the land where that squire had recently taken up residence. After learning their secrets, the squire gave the Native Americans "monstrous bad rum," so that within a week all of them were dead and only he was left with the knowledge. The man then proceeds to show the narrator visions of the city's past and future so terrifying that the narrator begins to scream wildly. The screams rouse the spirits of the Native Americans to take vengeance on the man, who is that same squire from 1768.