A man is doubly in pursuit of gold and a long-lost lover named Ruth. Located near a mountain, the man lives in one valley on one side and Ruth on the other. His friends, Evelyn and Peter are a couple who accompany him on his pursuit of gold, though with much less luck. The man, while scaling the mountain to get to Ruth's valley, comes across a cabin with a small pile of gold. After a short investigation, he finds that the cabin must've been abandoned with all the gold left behind. He assumes it must be fool's gold and simply moves on, plowing ahead to Ruth. When he gets to Ruth, she is pregnant and with another man who makes her happy in a deeper way than she imagined before. Disappointed, he returns to his village, developing a sickness for a few days once he's back. Then, Peter, desperate for gold, believes that the minerals have formed in his stomach and the only way to get them out would be to throw them up. Peter takes medicine that induces vomiting, with Evelyn grabbing the man in a panic when Peter has thrown up everything he could've possibly held. Soon after, Peter began hemorrhaging and died. The man feels very alone, accounting his loneliness to his pursuit of gold. He reflects on the man who abandoned the cabin, wondering what would've made him leave his gold there, and he thinks he understands now. With the mountain threatening to landslide at any moment while it pours rain, the man abandoned the cabin to avoid the wrath to come.