Ángela, a young orphan studying at a school abroad, decides to spend the Christmas holidays in Madrid, at the home of her guardian and closest relative, an unmarried lawyer with a somewhat dissipated life.
When Demetrio arrives at the mine to meet his brother Ricardo, he finds out that Ricardo has committed suicide for the love of a woman. He promises to avenge the death of his brother..
Shanti Andía, a veteran sailor, puts together the fragments of a personal diary that he has written through years of tribulations: his childhood in the Basque Country, his youth in the lands of Cádiz, and his many adventures and misadventures as a ship captain.