When penniless Westie Phillips briefly meets wealthy Martha Gorham, he falls in love, but Martha forgets the encounter. Harry Arnold, courting Martha, invites her out sailing and arranges to have the yacht wrecked near an uncharted island so that he can be alone with her until rescuers arrive. Meanwhile, without knowing Martha is on board, Westie secures a position on the yacht.
A doctor is called to the home of a young man who wants to enlist in the Army.
Two cowboys, Jim and Johnny Little Bear, discover a rich mine and decide to spend some of their money traveling. Their travels lead them to the kingdom of Queen Sylvia, who is being warred upon by the neighboring monarch Ferdinand because she will not marry him. Sympathetic to the Queen's plight, the cowboys wire to America for the rest of the gang, who arrive just in time to rout Ferdinand's attack.
John Oakhurst, a gentleman gambler, befriends Sandy Morton, who has dissipated his birthright through gambling and excessive drinking and dropped from his father's sight. Although Oakhurst soon takes Sandy's place in the affections of his father, he boards a train heading West and meets Pritchard, an alcoholic, and his wife, the Duchess. Pritchard is wanted by the law and Oakhurst helps him to escape detectives who are on his trail.
Indore, an Indian woman married to the English Captain Terence Unger is imprisoned by the prince after she gives birth to a baby daughter named Agatha. On his deathbed, Unger beseeches his friend Francis Duane to care for Agatha which Duane does, returning to England with the infant.
J. Warren Kerrigan plays the standard Vance hero, a devil-may-care Irish mercenary named Terrence O'Rourke. While knocking about in India, O'Rourke comes into possession of the Pool of Flame, a valuable ruby stolen from a Hindu temple. Typically, whosoever possesses this gem is marked for death, but O'Rourke hopes to beat the odds by utilizing the Pool of Flame to insure, rather than impede, his good luck.
Bessie Allen, a girl of the slums, dances in the streets of the Lower East Side of New York to the delight of the crowds. She becomes an orphan when her father, in a drunken stupor, kills her mother, and then himself. Bessie is knocked down by the car of Mrs. Latham, a society matron, who takes an interest in the girl and procures her a job as a dress model.
The quiet life style of Ruth Heck and her brother Lem, who belong to a religious sect called the Seekers, is disrupted when a judge imprisons Lem for a crime he did not commit.
Living up to a reputation for disregarding rules, author Sebastian Maure, having fallen in love with Ghirlaine Bellamy, kidnaps her to get her away from her fiancé, Vincent Pamfort. Sebastian takes Ghirlaine to a small island where, because of the force of his personality, he is treated almost as a god by the natives. During her captivity, Ghirlaine exerts a strong influence on Sebastian, and he vows to make himself into a better man.
Just before a big bout, Jimmie, a New York prize fighter, gets a lucky medal from his friend Billy. Herman Marlex, a chronic teller of tall tales informs Jimmie that the medal is really a royal one, worn by the infant Prince of Magonia when he was kidnapped years before. Then, on fight night, Jimmie is knocked senseless. On his way home, Magonian emissaries see him wearing the medal, and so haul him back to the "homeland." Despite his insisting that he is merely a boxer, Jimmie is hailed as the returning prince.
In New York's Little Italy, Carlotta's life is run by Black Hand leaders who will not let her see her sweetheart Tom. The Black Handers also control the life of prominent Judge Andrews, because years before, after the death of Andrews' daughter, they kidnapped his granddaughter. Only now have they agreed to return her, at a charity ball, for a large ransom.
Story of a pretty girl whose ambitious mother wants to marry her off to an English nobleman. The girl, however, loves a plain American, the son of a wholesale fish dealer. The girl's ineffectual father likes the young American too, but his wife overrides him and the family heads for Honolulu, where the matriarch hopes her daughter will wed the nobleman.
Upon hearing about a woman dubbed The Huntress because of her wild attention craving ways, Fleming Harcourt decides he can domesticate her and they marry. He takes her to settle down in a mining town, however she soon becomes bored and returns to the city and her lavish parties with plenty of adoring male admirers. Fleming decides to make her jealous by flirting with other women. When the Huntress hears the rumors of his affairs, she soon realizes her one true love is Fleming, and they are happily reunited.
Although Kenneth Carmont and Esther Saunders, criminal Bert Saunders' sister, love each other, Esther marries detective Elwood Collins, who agrees to stop pursuing Bert if she accepts his proposal. One night, Kenneth and Esther hide Bert, who has escaped from the police. The same night, Kenneth's father is murdered. The evidence implicates Kenneth, who cannot supply his whereabouts at the time of the crime, as that would give away Bert. Esther cannot clear Kenneth for the same reason, and because it would let her husband know that she was with her former sweetheart.
Jack Calvert bets four friends that he can travel from New York to Constantinople without a cent.
George Bell, a wild young man, lives with his rancher father, Thomas Bell, in Paradise Valley, California. When George sells his father's favorite horse, Mr. Bell turns him out, and George becomes a grain salesman in St. Louis. Meanwhile, Polly Martin lives with her father Bill, an ex-businessman who has sunk to day-labor because of his addiction to alcohol. Bill frequently abuses Polly, and when he falls to his death from a high girder, Polly becomes a nurse in the Salvation Army in St. Louis. George falls in love with Polly after he saves her from the advances of a drunk, but she will not marry him because of his wild past.
Jeanette Arden dies giving birth to her daughter Autumn, and Jeanette's husband George, who had gone for a doctor, receives a head wound. The injury makes him lose his memory, and so Autumn is raised by her godfather. Many years pass, and Royal Mounted Policeman Dick Leslie is assigned to locate George. Dick meets Autumn, who also comes to the attention of the gambler, Diamond Jack.
Disgusted with his son Harvey's attitude since his return from college, wealthy William Ogden turns the boy out to make his own way in the world. Harvey finally lands in the Canadian North Woods, where he goes into business with Joe Dubois, a hunter and trapper. One day while Harvey is trapping, his leg is caught in a steel trap. He is rescued by A-Che-Chee, the daughter of Black Lynx the Indian Chief. A-Che-Chee takes Harvey to her cabin, where she dresses his wound. When her father and brother discover Harvey there, they insist upon an immediate marriage. Harvey protests, but finally agrees in order to maintain the good will of the Indians.
Determined to maintain her status as a star detective, Nellie Gleason goes after Jim Kinkaid, who has fled to Mexico after robbing real estate magnate George Arnold.
