Industrialist James Sheridan, Sr., once a laborer, insists on moulding the careers of his three sons; however, he loses James, Jr., in a flood disaster, and Roscoe suffers a mental breakdown. Realizing his mistake, he begins to insure the happiness of the third son, Bibbs, by bringing him together with Mary, the girl he loves.
A young girl is seduced and raped by an older middle class man in Victorian England. After moving on with her path, she gets married. All is well until her husband discovers her past. Leading her on a life of wandering, murder, and execution.
An attorney's wife is determined to fight the evils of addictive substances.
First one stranger, then another, arrive at the presidio, each with a government pass and each claiming to have been robbed by the notorious Captain Fly-by-Night and his highwaymen. The soldiers and Señorita Anita believe the first to be Fly-by-Night and the second to be Señor Rocha, Anita's fiancée and emissary of the governor. But the first stranger, to whom Anita is drawn, proves to be on a government mission and exposes the second stranger as Captain Fly-by-Night.
While studying in Paris, Princess Oluf of Kosnia (Andree LeJon) befriends an American girl, Ruth Townley (Clayton), and gives her a locket bearing her name and the royal coat of arms. When Ruth accidentally drops the locket off a balcony, it is returned by a handsome stranger. Back home in Kosnia, Oluf wants to get married, but her choice of mate is challenged by Valdemir, the ruler of a neighboring principality (Warner Baxter).
Elizabeth Browne is the daughter of nouveau riche parents, who became wealthy when they struck oil. While she attends finishing school, her folks travel to England in search of a family tree so that they can enter society. They encounter Lady Dysart, an adventuress who married Lord Dysart shortly before his death. Lady Dysart tries to convince the Brownes that Cecil, her son from a previous marriage, is the new Lord Dysart.
Norine Lawton is a young woman living by her wits in New York City. When she becomes friendly with Count Bonzi, a swindler, he enlists her aid in his scheme to sell worthless Mercer oil company stock to wealthy Christopher Gibbons, a retired war hero.