Jack Levering

Gilbert and Edith Goodhue lack nothing in life except a child, which they desperately desire. Edith's brother Alan, who is interested in eugenics, suggests that they pay their chauffeur Joe and maid Nora to have a baby for them. While awaiting the proper time to elapse, Edith and Gilbert travel to Palm Beach for an extended vacation, where Gilbert, attempting to obtain a child for his wife, vamps a dancer with a baby.

A young newspaperwoman travels to a South Seas island to search for buried treasure.

In the mountains of West Virginia, Alderson Cree is mortally wounded in an ambush by Kip Ryerson, after Kip's wife, Martha, seeks refuge at the Crees's home for herself and her stepdaughter, Eileen. Cree makes his young son, David, promise to avenge his death once he has grown into manhood. As David Cree runs for help, Alderson recants and instructs Martha Ryerson to release his son from his promise. However, to eliminate her brutal spouse, Martha Ryerson remains silent, and George Hedrick, the local storekeeper, leads a crowd to drive Kip out of town. Hedrick later announces Kip's death, relieving David of his obligation to his father. Years pass, and David, now an adult, is engaged to Mary Reddin. When Kip Ryerson returns to town, David's mother demands that he keep his promise to avenge his father.