Larrabie Keller, a homesteader, is accused of being a cattle rustler, and when Keller refuses to fight Phil Sanderson, whose sister, Phyllis, has struck his fancy, he is insulted by Bill Healy, to whom he administers a severe drubbing. Phyllis, finding Keller beside a branding fire, believes him guilty; and when he is wounded by Healy, she takes Keller to Yeager, another homesteader, who cares for him and to whom he reveals that he is a Texas Ranger.

Tina, who is from an aristocratic English family, believes in the new freedom for women and is an ardent follower of a group of pseudo-bohemians. While riding through the neighboring estate of John Humphries, a wealthy commoner resented by the Carteret family, she is retrieved from a fall by John and blames him for the accident. The following day, she invites him to dinner, pretending repentance, but taking pleasure in ridiculing his old-fashioned dignity.

The prohibition is in full swing and Egypt Hagen, a new woman, is the constant subject of controversy in her religious small town. After a scandalous night of partying leaves her publicly shamed, she finds unlikely companionship in the town's new reverend. As their bond intensifies under the watchful eye of concerned townsfolk, her sullied reputation threatens his standing as a respected clergyman.

To avert war between their countries an official marriage is arranged between Crown Prince Boris of Moraine and Princess Flavia of Norvia. Prince Karl of Norvia sees in the alliance an opportunity to gain control of both kingdoms but upon visiting Boris finds him unyielding and independent. Flavia, shedding her stately dignity in the palace garden, is accosted by the flirtatious Boris, who believes her to be the princess' cousin; and falling in love, he realizes that he cannot go through with the planned marriage.

When the Government incorporates Bill Hayden's ranch into a Federal game preserve, Jack McCabe, a forest ranger, is sent to serve an eviction notice on Hayden and his daughter, Shasta. Hayden resists the order, and Jack falls in love with Shasta.