The story has to do with the love adventures of a Mexican girl, Tortola, who chooses the less worthy of two suitors for her hand. The result is that she suffers the agony commonly ascribed to a dove, or similarly tempered bird or animal, who has the misfortune to fall into the hands of a serpent. The serpent in this case was Luis Argnello. Still her suffering, great as it was, did not end here. Her chosen lover, Luis, and Pablo, the man she unwisely rejected, are both in the toils of a seductive village "belle," for whose favor the men cut the cards. Luis wins the girl. In this, her great trial, Tortola returns to her father's home, a very bruised bird indeed. She is then again taken to his heart and here Pablo brings by force the faithless lover, but the girl now knows him as he is, and refuses to marry him. The serpent, however, is indifferent to his fate. Being off with the old love, he concludes to be on with the new one, whom he has won by cards. But alas, on returning to claim his prize, he finds it is an inherently faithless one; she has made a new conquest, and has placed her affections accordingly. Little Tortola is cured of her infatuation and this clears the path for her responding to the advances of the true lover, who, regardless of the past, loves her still, and to whom she is finally united. The story ends with Luis, the serpent, seated on a rock, with bowed head, deserted by all, a fate he richly deserves.