Acting
Pampy lives in a quaint little Dutch village, where she supports her invalid father by selling flowers to tourists. Pampy is so beautiful that she provides inspiration to Donald Luther, an American artist who is visiting the village, and at his request, poses for him. Just as his interest starts to blossom into love, he is called away for two weeks. During his absence Pampy's father dies, leaving her only with directions to her wealthy grandfather's home in New York.
Nick Van Alstyne owns the Henrietta silver mine and is very rich and his son Bertie is naive and spoiled. His daughter Rose is married to shady investor Mark. Mark wrecks Bertie's wedding plans by making him take the blame for Mark's illegitimate daughter, and also nearly ruins the family business by selling off some stock at too low a price.
Jo Morey, who lives in the St. Lawrence River Valley, inherits her father's barren farm and devotes her entire energies to cultivating it and caring for her invalid sister. Henry Langley meets Jo and proposes marriage to her. She asks him to wait until she is free, but Langley refuses and marries Mary Malden. Eight years later Jo has paid off the mortgage to Captain Longville, and one night she finds a baby in her house; it is Langley's, and a note requests that its parentage be kept secret.
Because he desires to shield the father of the girl he loves, though he suspects another to be the real culprit, Clavering takes upon himself the reproach of business treachery and seeks a hiding place as operator at a little telegraph station in the desert. There comes the man he suspects, and Clavering wrings a confession from him, but lets him go when he declares that he is married to the girl. Too late he discovers his error, but in seeking to shield the girl from further distress finds happiness from an unexpected source.
Charmed by the bright smile of Taro San, a Japanese rickshaw boy, Grant Barton takes the young man to the United States as his valet. Grant marries Marion Craig, but when she departs for California to visit her sick mother, he becomes enamored of Tonia Marsh, a vamp. Marion discovers them together and leaves Grant, whereupon Taro resolves to help his kind employer out of his difficulties. Persuading Tonia that he is a member of the imperial family of Japan, Taro pays court to the adventuress, and when Grant finds them in each other's arms, he immediately fires Taro. Grant and Marion are reconciled, while Taro sadly returns to Japan.
Dennis O'Hara is a poverty-stricken Irishman who believes that if he comes to America he will immediately land a job as a policeman. So he manages to scrape together the funds to get him to Manhattan, and leaves his sweetheart Katie O'Grady behind while he makes his fortune. Naturally he discovers that joining the force isn't as easy as he expected, and when he does finally get in, he winds up in trouble because of the graft collections of his boss.
Dorthea Gordon comes to a fishing village with her ill-tempered brother, Walter. She rows out to a rock to sketch the seals, but her boat drifts away and the rising tide sweeps her into the water. Her predicament is seen by Jack Livingston, the fisherman son of the village minister, and he rescues her. The pair begin seeing one another, but Walter thoroughly disapproves. When a gossip implies that Livingston's attentions are less than honorable, Walter confronts him and is killed in the ensuing struggle.
No description available.
Tessa Fayne, unhappy in her life as a clerk in a small town candy store, leaves her Aunt Lottie and journeys to New York City to search for Arnold Fuller, an actor who once offered her love as well as a career on the stage. After learning that Arnold is married, Tessa rushes out into the rain and runs headlong into Carey Larned, a young millionaire. Carey takes her to his apartment, where a fellow clubman, Olin Humphreys, tries to attack her. In defending her, Carey suffers a lung hemorrhage and is ordered West by his physician to recuperate. In his absence, Tessa is cared for by Madeline Carson, who, although deeply in love with Carey, has inspired only his friendship in return. Under Madeline's watchful eye, Tessa grows into a beautiful and cultured woman. Several years later, Madeline is killed in an accident, and when Carey returns to visit Tessa, he realizes his love for her and proposes.
Betsy Shelton, an orphan since early childhood, lives in Myrtleville with her aunt, and is engaged to marry Calvin Stone, a young lawyer. Betsy's brother, Dick, ostensibly working in New York to recover the family fortune, becomes involved with one Roger Enderleigh, a shyster promoter, who because of crooked dealings, is forced to flee from the postal authorities. He induces Dick to take him to Myrtleville, where Dick introduces Enderleigh as a prosperous banker promoting a munition plant, thus swindling the townsmen.
Nell, a beautiful mountain girl, is a member of the Serviss family, rivals of the neighboring Rutherford family. Nell is engaged to Jim Serviss, who is the head of their clan, but when, by accident, she meets a stranger who has come to stay with the Rutherfords, they become infatuated.
In New York's Washington Square, a poet named Karl (Jack Livingston) is the king of art and artifice. But World War I breaks out and the spotlight on him begins to fade, so he dramatically declares his intention to enlist in the British Army. His friend Marcarson announces that he will go with him, keeping Karl to a promise which he hadn't planned to see through.
Dr. John Niblock is conducting research in Japan when he is called to revive Asuti Hishuri, who has fainted during her wedding ceremony. Upon learning that Asuti is being forced into a loveless marriage, the chivalrous John offers to marry the girl in name only and take her to America where she can be free. When John and his Japanese bride arrive in San Francisco, California, the doctor's former sweetheart appears heartbroken, and Asuti realizes that she is in love with Ito, her husband's secretary.
A young woman whose domineering mother almost ruins her marriage eventually learns that mother does not always know best when her father commits suicide.
The infant daughter of a wealthy couple is thought to be lost at sea, but she survives and is raised by a poor family.
A feud in the Adirondack Mountains develops when Randolph Shaw will not give up a shack and its acreage adjoining the estate of Lord Cecil Bazelhurst, whose wife, the former Evelyn Banks of Jersey City, married him for his title and now wants to get rid of Randolph's ugly shack. When Randolph meets Cecil's sister Penelope, a romance begins which is furthered after one of the Bazelhurst servants shoots Randolph in the arm for trespassing and Penelope, who earlier had looked upon the feud as a joke, runs away to Randolph's house and accepts his engagement proposal. Cecil and his men pursue Penelope, but are frightened away by Randolph's men and are forced to spend a miserable stormy night in the woods. The next day everyone becomes reconciled when Lady Evelyn realizes that the desired property will now be in the family, and Randolph offers Cecil and his men dry, if ill-fitting, garments to wear.
Jim Morrison is an English army officer who comes from a very old and prominent family. He marries the ravishingly beautiful but unscrupulous Cleo, who has no qualms about using her sexual allure to get the luxuries her husband can't provide. When Jim is sent off to war, Cleo embarks on a series of affairs, one of which results in her becoming the love slave of a German spy, the very spy that her husband has been assigned to track down.
