Hosiah Howe struggles to earn his living on a farm that lies in the shadow of a wealthy summer resort. Visiting the resort are Dr. Rand, his daughter Virginia, and a scoundrel named Ward Andrews. One day Andrews stops at the Howe farm and discovers that the land contains water with a highly-exploitable medicinal value. Smelling money, Andrews convinces Dr. Rand to buy an option on the farm, then runs away to the city with Hosiah's innocent sister Martha.

Under the name of Jack Nelson, Don McLean goes to work in his father's factory. He meets a restaurant cashier, Jeanie; they are married and have a child. Stricken by amnesia as a result of an accident, Jack forgets his family and returns to his former life. Eventually his memory is restored, and he is reunited with his wife and child.

The border bandit Severn is after Estrada's money. He not only gets Estrada to promise his daughter to him in marriage but he also convinces him that Dave Marshall is the bandit. When Dave shows up to expose Severn, he is jailed.

Tito Lombardi a Fifth Avenue dress designer, causes his business to suffer by his generous dispensation of credit to clients, one of whom, Max Strohm, the manager of a musical review, has promised payment for his girls' lavish costumes as soon as the show makes money. To the dismay of Norah Blake, Lombardi's faithful assistant, who loves him, Lombardi proposes to Phyllis Manning, one of the showgirls, and presents her with his finest creations, while not even attempting to kiss her, as she puts off setting a wedding date and also accepts the attentions of wealthy bachelor Bob Tarrant.

Barbara Rand is blinded when she leaps through a window to escape an assailant. Her sister, Natalie, reluctantly abandons her fiancé, Ned Gardiner, and marries Oliver Landis, who can provide the money needed for Barbara's operation. Unaware that Oliver was Barbara's attacker, Natalie blames his business partner, Howard Pollard, who was with Barbara on the night she was injured. Natalie holds Howard at gunpoint, but when her husband arrives, he promises to deal with the villain making sure Howard falls to his death. Upon Barbara’s release from the hospital, Oliver tries to blind her once. Natalie threatens him with a pistol, but Oliver wrests it away from her. He then realizes that he can no longer hide his guilt from Natalie or the police and shoots himself. Barbara has been avenged, and Natalie is free to marry Ned.

Barbara Winslow helps her rebel brother, Rupert, escape from the king's forces by disguising herself as him. Captain Prothero captures her, but he has fallen for Barbara's charms so he lets her go. As a result they are both arrested and imprisoned.

Delmar Spavinaw, an educated "half-breed," loves Evelyn Huntington, daughter of a racist judge. Evelyn's other suitor is Ross Kennion, a widower with one child, and owner of a vast tract of land which Spavinaw insists belongs to his Indian mother. Spavinaw seeks revenge when Judge Huntington decides to evict the squaw. Assisted by Juan Del Rey, a cattle rustler, Spavinaw steals the title to the land, wounds Kennion, stages a raid on the judge's cattle, and attempts to kidnap Kennion's son and Evelyn. The arrival of the sheriff forces him into flight across the border without his hostages. En route he meets Doll Pardeau, a school friend of Evelyn's, and together they ride for the Mexican border. Caught between a cattle stampede and a sheriff's posse, the couple catch a passing freight train, leaving calamity behind as the train slowly passes.

Nathan Forge, romantic son of a cruel businessman, publishes in a local newspaper a poem about a girl who once befriended him. The girl, a student in a nearby school, reads the poem and recognizes herself. Years pass, and Nathan goes through various hardships, including an unhappy marriage, imprisonment, and the war. Then in Siberia, working for the International Red Cross, he meets the girl who is the subject of his poem and thus achieves happiness. A lost film.

Jack Joyce, who worked in old Abner Hope's garage, was always dreaming of big schemes, but had no capital with which to realize them. Abner Hope, who is regarded as a "queer one," tell Jack that the world will end on September 1st, and gives him his savings to spend during the few remaining weeks. As a result, Jack becomes a king of power, and becomes engaged to Curt Horndyke's daughter, although he loves Mary Ellen, Abner's granddaughter. Then comes the climax - the end of the world - which, with its dénouement, makes one of the most fascinating endings ever screened.

Jim Joyce runs a garage with old Abner Hope. When Hope's granddaughter, Mary Ellen, comes to visit, Joyce falls in love with her. Joyce has a number of bizarre inventions and he dreams of harnessing the nearby falls for power, but he can't get any financing from the town banker.

A young man who falls for a Parisian dancer, but his wealthy family disapproves leading to societal conflict, misunderstandings, and eventual reconciliation as he navigates love, tradition, and his family's stubbornness in the post-WWI era, culminating in him choosing true love over strict duty.

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

The Vermilion Pencil is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Norman Dawn, and produced and distributed by Robertson–Cole. It is based on the eponymous 1908 novel by Homer Lea. The film stars Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa in multiple roles, and white actors Ann May, Bessie Love, and Sidney Franklin, all in Asian roles. It is now a lost film.