The novel is set in the fictional Swiss village of Karlstein in 1816. The evil Count Karlstein made a deal with Zamiel, the Demon Huntsman, in order to obtain his current wealth. The
condition of the deal was that in ten years' time the huntsman will be
presented with a human sacrifice on All Souls's Eve. The count has decided to offer his two young nieces, Lucy and Charlotte.
His plan does not go as smoothly as he would have preferred. Hildi
Kelmar, a castle maidservant, overhears his plan to sacrifice Lucy and
Charlotte and tries to save them.
The narrative shifts between the perspectives of a panoply of
characters, including Hildi, Lucy, Charlotte, the girls' former teacher
Miss Augusta Davenport, the inept coachman Max Grindoff, and a police
report. Other characters that come to the aid of the girls, willingly or not, are Meister Haifisch, the Count's lawyer; Doctor Cadaverezzi, a
fraudulent magician employing Max as an assistant, who takes Lucy in as a part of his act; Eliza, Miss Davenport's helper and Max's lover;
Hildi's mother, a tavern owner; and Hildi's brother, Peter, a huntsman
hiding from the law.
After hiding the girls, avoiding the Count and his cronies (Arturo
Snivelwurst, his cowardly manservant, and Frau Muller, the castle's head servant), and helping several other people, Hildi has no choice but to
send her fugitive brother, armed with a single silver bullet, to rescue
the girls from the distant hunting cabin. He uses the bullet before
encountering Zamiel, but the Demon Huntsman spares the hunter and those
he protects, taking the life of Karlstein instead. The following day,
Peter wins a shooting contest and the title of Chief Ranger of the
Forest, securing his freedom. Meister Haifisch arrives and announces
that the true Count Karlstein is in fact the orphaned Max, who weds
Eliza and raises Lucy and Charlotte. Finally, Miss Augusta and Doctor
Cadaverezzi (whom she knows as Signor Rolipolio), old lovers, reunite
and marry.
