Thomas N. Heffron

Tony comes to America virtually the slave of his padrone, who holds him in debt for his passage money. But Rosa Picciano marries him to escape parental discipline and Tony hopes for freedom at last, but Rosa makes it plain that she does not love him.

An impertinent son of a wealthy New Yorker, Roger Carr takes the blame for the murder of Norman Evans, whom Roger believes his sister Ethel shot when Evans assaulted her.

To prevent David's widowed mother, Elizabeth, from being influenced by her son against their fake tropical rubber plantation investment, the promoters trick David into managing the plantation in Mexico. Seeking to prove his worth after a failed marriage proposal, David travels to the tropics. There, he encounters the brutal reality of the rubber slavery system. He meets Ludwig Hertzer (the villainous "Planter," played by Tyrone Power Sr.), a feared and hated man who runs a slave-labor-based operation. David also encounters Senora Morales and her daughter, Consuela, who are involved in the slave trade. David discovers his family's investment is actually a "rubbish heap." He attempts to warn his mother via cable, but the message is intercepted by Hertzer for his own gain.

Disgusted when the police department fails to apprehend the murderer of her guardian, Henri Du Bois, Celeste decides to track down the criminal herself. Her only clue is a cuff link dropped near the scene of the crime on which a sphinx is engraved, and with it, she wanders through Paris' tough Moulin Noir district. When she notices a young man wearing a tie pin of identical design, she cultivates his acquaintance and eventually asks him to visit her in her home. His suspicious behavior there convinces Celeste that he is the guilty party, and although she has fallen in love with him, she has him arrested, whereupon she learns that he is Du Bois' missing son, Andre. Further detective work reveals that the real murderer is Celeste's rejected suitor, Raoul Laverne. Upon his confession, Andre is released and eventually marries Celeste.

When Sunset Sprague saves Calico Barnes from a bandit, the two men become friends. Barnes is heading out to protect his niece, Rose Loring, whose father was murdered right after his mine struck gold. Sprague goes to help and finds himself up against the villainous Mace Dennison.

Orphaned Ruth Sheldon reads an article on "Love Charms" on her way to live in the home of her Aunt Julia and Cousin Hattie Nast. Upon her arrival, Ruth is put to work as housekeeper, cook, and seamstress. When Thomas Morgan, a young banker, is invited to dinner, he focuses his attention on Ruth, prompting the envious Hattie to claim him as her own. To oblige her cousin, Ruth attempts to discourage Thomas by behaving like a frivolous society "vampire," rather than the old-fashioned girl he believes her to be.

Myra Coningsby, a newlywed who is determined not to be a submissive wife but ultimately learns to find a balance in her marriage after a dramatic incident involving a faked drowning.