Dave Martin, receiving teller in a Wall Street bank, marries Adele, secretary to the office manager, Frederick Vibart, who visits their home and shows continued interest in her. When a loss of $50,000 is discovered at the bank, Dave comes under suspicion and is arrested and convicted.

Weak-willed Roy Hanford, driven from his father's house by the coldness of his stone-hearted wife and the sanctimonious attitude of his father, the deacon, flees to the city.

Mynderse Van Dyun, a wealthy old New York aristocrat, has one goal in life, to see his granddaughter Catherine and grandson Pell married; for, although they are cousins, the marriage would perpetuate the family name. Catherine, however, is in love with Paul La Farge and detests her drug-addicted cousin, who seduces and then secretly marries her maid, Nora Duffy.

Mahlee and Blanche Sackville are half-sisters, Blanche the daughter of an Englishman and his wife, Mahlee of the Englishman and his Chinese mistress. Mahlee rejects her people and attempts to find a life for herself among the Europeans. But she finds the color line impossible to pass and returns to lead her Chinese people in rebellion.

Mary, the three-year-old daughter of John Denby, a railroad president, is kidnapped, and all trace of her is lost. Fourteen years elapse. There has been a terrible wreck on Denby's road and Graham, the engineer, is made the scapegoat. In spite of the fact that he merely obeyed orders, he is sent of to prison. Mary is returned to Denby, the kidnapper explaining that he stole her when his own little daughter was killed, but that now he feels he must return her to her parents.

Unknown to her, Mary Manchester is a double for the ailing Mrs. Adelaide Rutherford, a wealthy woman who has been driven insane by her husband's cruelty. Rutherford is in league with Jasper Haig and Dr. Babcock. Together these men hold in trust sixty million dollars which upon Adelaide's death will revert to her brother Stanford Gorgas. Fearful of Adelaide's imminent death, the conspirators plan to substitute Mary in her place, thus preventing Gorgas from inheriting the money.

Young Polly-Ann works in a small town inn as a maidservant. A troupe of actors comes to town and the innocent girl falls in love with one of its members. Howard Straightlane is sent to the small town by his father, to work as a schoolteacher in hopes of smartening up the young man from his wild ways. Howard soon meets Polly-Ann and saves her from the unscrupulous actor.

An unkempt chorus girl is arrested on a minor charge. In court, she is spotted by a novelist who is looking for someone of her type on whom to model a character in a book he is writing. He takes her into his home where she is looked down upon by his snobbish family. But the girl brings something to the family unlike anything they have known before.

"Tough Luck" Baxter, returning from a prospecting trip, meets Happy Jack Clarke, a former citizen of Baxter City, a boom town which became a ghost town when the gold petered out. A game of cards decides that Clarke will go back to Baxter City with "Tough Luck" in search of ore. Meanwhile, the Firefly, a New York music hall entertainer out of a job, is ordered by her parasitic husband Bert Wilcox to perform at the dance hall in Baxter City. Upon her arrival, she finds the town deserted and strikes out on the open trail.

Patricia Reynolds, the belle of the summer resort she is visiting with her friend, Amy Powellson, attracts the attention of Arthur Kirby, whom Amy loves. On an evening drive, Arthur tries to kiss Patricia , whereupon she leaps from the car and walks home. While Amy, disguised in Patricia 's clothing, accompanies Arthur to a roadhouse, Patricia , walking near the beach, sees her invalid friend, Jim Wheeler, jump into the ocean intending to kill himself. After rescuing him, Patricia persuades Jim to visit a specialist, but when she later is accused of spending the night with Arthur, she refuses to defend herself in order to conceal Jim's attempted suicide.

Wade Hildreth is sent to New York from London to receive a diamond necklace for Lady Gwendolyn from the jeweler Arabin. A gang of crooks led by Pete Fielding, known as "The Shadow," plans to keep Hildreth from going to Arabin's until they have robbed the store. Actress Morn Light, whom the Shadow loves, agrees to entice Hildreth to her apartment to be imprisoned. When she warns Hildreth because she wants to avenge her father's death, which was caused by the Shadow, the Shadow overhears and captures them both.

An odd belief that the dead can be tormented through their surviving loved ones prompts Dr. Miguel Hernandez to seek revenge against the woman who shunned him through her husband, Matthew Vane, and daughter Mildred.

Glory Wharton is the granddaughter of civil war veteran Jed Wharton. Jed entertains everyone with his war stories, but has a serious drinking problem. Glory is determined to help him overcome this.

The invalid Count de Suchet, nearing death, tells his friend, artist Henri Dutray, about the tragic events of his early life. He secretly married a dancer, and after she gave birth to a daughter, his father convinced her that she was ruining her husband's life. She gave the baby to an old couple, and then killed herself. The grieving count now worries about his daughter. Meanwhile, Jeanne, an Apache dancer in Montmartre, refuses to be sold by her brother Jacques to an old rogue. After she escapes and hides in Henri's studio, Henri, because he needs money, plots with Jacques to make the count believe that Jeanne is his daughter.

As a man travels down to New Orleans for the winter, he finds out a robbery will be taken place on Christmas night in a plantation. he helps a girl by making it available for her to marry her boyfriend.

The son of a wealthy imported goods dealer, Herbert Franklyn refuses to curb his appetite for gaiety and women after his engagement, with the result that his fiancee, Miriam Faversham, breaks off their relationship. On the firm's annual trip to Japan, Herbert meets Cherry Blossom, whose father Tokimasa wishes her to marry a Westerner.

The story of Meg Mackenzie, the orphaned niece of two stingy Scotsmen, Donald and Duncan Craig. She's kept busy taking care of their home in the country, while they plan to marry her off to Joe Dobbs (Lincoln Stedman), the son of the village blacksmith. A wrench is thrown in the Craigs' plan when author Stephen Ware comes to the little hamlet in search of a quiet place to work. Meg immediately develops a crush on him and Ware's stay proves to be anything but quiet when there's a robbery and he is assumed to be the guilty party. A mob attacks him, and Meg steps in and saves his life. Her uncles happen to be away, and she takes him in while he recovers from his injuries. When they return, Donald and Duncan are infuriated to find Ware in their home, and they insist that he marry Meg to save her reputation.

The wife of a prominent San Francisco doctor, feeling neglected by her husband, finds herself attracted to a young newspaper reporter. ...

Claire Curtis, Jimmie Strong and Mary have spent their childhood together in the country. Upon reaching adulthood, Claire goes to New York and becomes a success on stage. Jimmie, who has always dreamed of becoming an inventor, goes to New York to sell the machine he invented, and there he renews his acquaintance with Claire. Soon their old friendship ripens into love. Meanwhile, back in the country, Ralph and David Harding, who are making Jimmie's machine, plan to steal the right to it. Back in New York, Mary appears and informs Claire that she loves Jimmie, and the actress resolves to give her a chance to win him. When it appears that the Hardings' scheme to steal Jimmie's machine will succeed, however, Mary's ardor turns cold. Claire and Jimmie then rush back to the country in time to avert the takeover and save his firm from bankruptcy.

A gambler decides to play one last game before he turns over a new leaf. However, during the game one of the players accuses him of cheating. Suddenly the lights go out, shots are fired and when the lights come back on, one of the players is dead. The gambler is accused of the killing. He didn't do it, but has to find out who did, and why he was framed for it.