Ned Burton

While visiting a small village, popular young artist Robert Williams meets innocent country girl Helen Sanderson and, enchanted by her beauty, induces the girl to pose for him. An attraction develops between them, but just as the portrait is completed, Robert is called back to the city. Helen fails to hear from him again and Robert's neglect draws her to the city, where she is sent to a reformatory on a false charge. Once released, she begs Judge Princeton for help and, feeling sorry for the unfortunate girl, he introduces her to playwright George Wendbourg, who adopts Helen and makes her a great actress. Seeing Helen on stage reawakens Robert's love for her and he begs her for forgiveness. After initially snubbing him, Helen relents and the two finally are reunited.

When composer Anselm Kardos leaves his alcoholic wife, he gives his daughter Lily an unfinished love ode entitled "The Song of Songs" and warns her to keep her artistic temperament in check.

When Tom Redding's wealthy father dies and it turns out that all he left Tom was a mountain of debts, all of his "friends" desert him--except young Mary Austin. Determined to get out from all his debt, Tom heads west and eventually strikes it rich with an oil well. Now wealthy, he hatches a plan to get even with his "friends" in his hometown--by pretending to return home broke but having a colleague secretly buy up as much property in town as he can.

Wealthy Clytie Rogers writes a novel in which a society girl commits a burglary, but it is "roasted" by critic Jimmy Gilpin, who writes that her story is completely implausible. To prove him wrong, Clytie decides to feign a robbery and enters an apartment through an open window. She is apprehended by a policeman, who mistakes her for local robber "Powder Nose Annie." Gilpin sees her in jail and, posing as crook Jimmy of the Dives, arranges to break her out and take her on a robbing spree. Finally, Jimmy returns her to her parents and then calls at her home as Gilpin, the critic. Clytie is suprised but forgives the deception and agrees to marry him.

Mary Dexter comes to Washington with her husband, Phillip, to get his invention, an appliance for battleships, adopted. He runs against graft and influence on all sides and finally realizes he can do nothing without money and "pull." Unknown to Phillip, Mary goes to Senator Barring and by her beauty and charm so interests him that he promises to help her husband.

On the trail of counterfeiters Detective Craig is on their trail. Suspicion falls on James Dalton who passes bad money through unsuspecting "fences." Dalton plants bad bills on young Bob Brierly and when it is detected Dalton, as usual, escapes while the innocent Bob is caught and convicted. Upon his release Bob meets Mae Edwards who gets him a job in her bank. When Dalton comes to the bank to case it for a robbery he runs into Bob and tries to recruit him as an accomplice. Bob, who has married Mae, refuses. Dalton causes him to lose his position and because of Dalton’s persistent efforts forces Bob to join the crook. Craig, shadowing Dalton, knows Bob is taking part against his will. Craig foils the robbery and after a motorboat chase Dalton is captured and exonerates Bob.

A bank clerk forges a check to help his girlfriend's father. He's found out, but instead of being arrested he becomes a member of a gang of forgers.