Intent on avenging his father's murder, Roy Neal and his sidekick Rusty find themselves in the border town of Gladstone where Neal is mistakenly arrested for the robbery of a mail truck. After escaping, Neal joins up with pretty June Bowers whose father has apparently also been murdered. Neal, suspecting two of the town's leading businessmen of being the murderers, tries to flush them out before the sheriff can lock him up again.
Frank Leon Smith's well-written story told of Carter's Creek, a bustling mining camp, and of how Beth Cameron (Rich) seeks to avenge the murder of her father (Frederick Vroom) by donning men's clothing and raiding the vicinity.
Alexei, a young officer, saves the Czarina of a small European kingdom from revolutionary conspirators and is rewarded with her love. Infatuated, he deserts his sweetheart, Anna, the Czarina's lady-in-waiting, only to discover that his Queen is far from true to him. Desperate, he joins the revolutionists and plots against her. The Czarina pleads that she loves only him, and he swears no harm will befall her. Meantime the chancellor nips the revolution in the bud, and the Czarina orders Alexei's arrest. But she causes herself such unhappiness in doing so that she releases him from prison, relinquishes him to Anna, and seeks solace in a new affair with the French Ambassador
Santussa, an orphan who becomes separated from her nurse en route to America to live with her grandfather, is cared for by gangsters who hide their stolen jewels in her ragdoll. In New York, Big Mike, finding Santussa a nuisance, dumps her and the doll in a trash can, where a newsboy finds her. After several adventures, Santussa finds her grandfather, the jewels are handed over to customs officials, and the gang of crooks is reformed.
Depury sheriff Ned Williams is sent to capture a cattle thief in the area. The thief turns out to be a young woman, Betty Howard, who steals to keep her young siblings form starving to death and their hardscrabble homestead after the father has died. Buck Kelly, an enemy of Ned's, frames him and abducts Betty.
Hamilton Hill meets Estelle Redding in an umbrella repair shop and rescues her from two thugs soon afterwards. Estelle has hidden in the handle of her grey parasol the formula for "Coalex," an inexpensive substitute for coal which the coal trust is trying to prevent from reaching the market. Edward Burnham, one of the thugs, tells Hamilton that Estelle is a German agent, but the infatuated young bachelor fails to believe the story.
When young Eva Stanley comes home from college, she finds that her mother is deeply involved in the movement to rescue "wayward" girls. Eva's boyfriend John Gilbert is sent west on a government job, and Eva finds herself lonely and neglected. She is lured onto the yacht of lecherous Leo Spencer, the dissolute brother of the district attorney.
During a raging storm, a baby is washed up on shore on an island in Greece and is adopted by the wealthy Stanhopes, who name her Lorelei. Eighteen years later, Lorelei, now a woman, invites her school friends to spend their vacation at her villa. One of her guests, Julie, is insanely jealous of Lorelei. One day Gerald Waldron, a disenchanted society fop, sails by on his yacht, accompanied by his social-climbing friend, Hartley Royce. Seeing Lorelei and her friends swimming, they decide to go ashore. Both Gerald and Hartley fall in love with Lorelei, and Julie rages, finding herself relegated to Hartley. Together Hartley and Julie plot to separate the lovers.
Vera, an heiress, while on a trip to the seaside, sees and admires Jack, an oyster dredger. She takes a fancy to his mode of living and through her lawyer proposes to change places and life with him for a time, placing all her property in trust with her lawyer. Jack finally agrees to the proposition and is installed in the wealthy girl's home
During the Civil War, a young man joins the Union army. His sweetheart's brother, on the other hand, joins the Confederate forces. During a battle the Confederate is captured and brought to the young Union officer, who recognizes him, and later allows him to escape. For that action he is tried for treason, convicted and sentenced to hang. All that remains now is for President Abraham Lincoln to sign his death warrant.