Mary Alden and her brothers Matthew and George have extremely different political views. Matthew is a committed pacifist, and is constantly giving speeches against war. George is notified that his draft number, 258, has been called and to report for induction, but he refuses. Mary, on the other hand, is intensely patriotic and comes up with a plan to shame him into reporting for induction. Meanwhile, Matthew is being set up for a patsy by a gang of German secret agents, led by Van Bierman, who are planning to blow up an airplane factory.

Robert Wallace, the elder son of a rich and indulgent father, marries Margaret Christy, a spirited patriot, so that he can escape the call to war. Discovering the reason for Robert's haste to get married, Margaret is appalled and resolves to bring home to her husband a sense of his personal responsibility. In order to instill patriotism in Robert, Margaret contrasts him with John Harding, the man who gave her up to go to war. When Robert protests his wife's tactics, Margaret accuses him of being a contemptible coward. The next day a German insults the American flag, and Robert, his sense of justice aroused, makes him salute it. He then bids Margaret farewell and marches off to war. Margaret sees him off without divulging the secret that she is pregnant, thus sacrificing her own welfare for that of her country.

Billy Jim is a rich cowboy who tries to seduce a young girl whose father exploits a mine.

Andy is a timid young man who lives his life completely in the power of his friends, his boss, and his family. But fortune suddenly smiles on him, and he becomes the forthright man he always dreamed of being, but with unexpected consequences.

Corrupt saloonkeeper and mayor Johnson Schmidt hits his head during a reform conference, leading activists to mistakenly believe he is dead. Finding a down-and-out stranger named Charles Smith who looks identical to Schmidt, the group gets him to pose as the mayor. The real Schmidt survives with amnesia, while Smith falls in love and reforms after saving a woman from a brawl. Henchmen accidentally shoot the real Schmidt upon his return, revealing the two men are twin brothers; Smith wins the next election and marries.

A woman "rents" a husband for the purpose of divorcing him so she can win another man, who prefers widows.

Dalion Pemberton discovers that in order to inherit his grandfather's estate, he must marry Virginia Christy--a complete stranger. Dalion, who doesn't particularly trust or even like women, decides to forgo his grandfather's fortune rather than marry a woman he doesn't know. However, while on a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, he spots a beautiful woman and immediately falls for her. When he discovers that she is sailing to New York City, he stows away on the ship so he can follow her. Things don't turn out quite the way he planned.

Maryland Warren is kidnapped by a group of Yaqui Indians, and taken across the border to Mexico. In rescuing her, Robert Carr proves both his bravery and his loyalty to the United States.

A molly-coddle son of wealthy parents whose regeneration is brought about through being hit on the head and shipped off in a freight car in dress clothes. In this attire he hits a border town just at the time that his former sweetheart has been carried off on a transcontinental train by a band of Mexican bandits. He goes to her rescue, establishing his manhood when he manages to rescue her from the hands of the hold-up men.