Writing
Shark Rawley is a sailor aboard the tramp steamer Aurora , presided over by a brutal captain named Sanchez. While ashore one night, Shark and Sanchez encounter society girl Doris Selby and her friends on a slumming expedition at a dockside bar called the Wine Room. Entrapped by some of the predatory characters that infest the place, Doris escapes through a cellar only to abducted by Sanchez who then takes her to the Aurora.
Jose Fernand seems interested in luring Helen Barnes onto his ship than he is in smuggling. The innocent orphan miss goes, accompanied by her younger sister Alice. With the boat out to sea, Fernand proceeds to attack the girls.
When her son has married beneath the family, Mrs. Van Twiller Du Bois disowns him and decides to leave her fortune to her nephew, Cecil Harrington. She does, however, agree to educate her granddaughter Mary, who comes to live with Mrs. Du Bois in hopes of reconciling her father and the old woman. Cecil, actually a local robber whose identity has just been discovered by the police, plans to rob his aunt and leave town. Just as he is emptying the safe, Mary enters the room, and when Mrs. Du Bois comes in, Cecil tries to blame Mary for the robbery. The police soon arrive to clear Mary's name and arrest Cecil, and Mrs. Du Bois is reconciled to her family.
A brother and sister living in the Canadian Northwest pose as husband and wife. They are suspects in the murder of a barracks inspector who was responsible for the deaths of their parents. The brother confesses to the crime to protect his sister, who he thinks actually did it--but she didn't. Complications ensue.
A producer decides to reopen a theater, that had been closed five years previously when one of the actors was murdered during a performance, by staging a production of the same play with the remaining members of the original cast.
Jacqueline Roland, the daughter of a backwoodsman, meets Henri Dubois during a visit to the city, but is unresponsive to his attentions. Henri later takes charge of the lumber camp where Jacqueline lives, and is closely followed by Li Chang, who is blackmailing him to keep secret a murder he committed years earlier. The new boss is determined to win Jacqueline for himself and convinces her lover, Raoul Radon, that she no longer cares for him. When Li Chang kidnaps Jacqueline, Henri comes to claim her and an oil lamp is upset during the ensuing struggle. As the fire spreads into the forest, Jacqueline escapes with Li Ching in pursuit. She and Raoul are reunited, while Henri perishes in the blaze.
A detective goes undercover as a producer to investigate an actor's murder, which occurred during the performance of a play...
Society girl Sybil Lawton is left penniless by her father's death, and though her mother wishes her to marry into wealth, her sole ambition is to achieve fame in the theater. Her youthful charm and talent interest producer Stewart Thrall, who finds her a position with an Omaha stock company. Under Sybil's encouragement, fellow actor Jim Roberts, disillusioned by an unhappy marriage, improves and becomes her self-appointed guardian. Sybil returns to New York and begins rehearsals for "Romeo and Juliet" with Thrall as her costar and Roberts as stage manager. Meanwhile, Thrall's unhappy wife obtains a divorce, and Roberts, recognizing her as the woman who ruined his life, blames Thrall and shoots him at a performance as he bends over "Juliet" on her bier. Thrall recovers, however, declares his love for Sybil, and looks forward to happiness with her.
Lieut. Ralph Harrison is in love with Major Marston's wife, who pretends to love him. Harrison's mother implores Capt. Jim Craig to intervene to save her son from dishonor. When Craig visits Mrs. Marston, Harrison appears, precipitating a quarrel during which Harrison is wounded in the shoulder. Craig then leaves, and the major discovers Harrison. The major kills Harrison, and places the blame on Craig. To avoid a scandal, Craig runs away. Madge Summers of the Secret Service tracks him down and the two fall in love, but Craig is arrested and taken back to the army post.
After her lover, Kale Loomis, has had her husband sent to prison on a false charge, Fay Gonard leaves her little daughter, Dolores May, on the steps of a convent. Reared in an atmosphere of strictness and seclusion, Dolores is possessed with a desire to see the world, and after meeting Lawrence Grant, a politician's son, her curiosity is aroused even more and she escapes from the convent. Found on the road by Kale's friends, Dolores lives in his home for a time, but later, Lawrence takes her under his wing with the intention of marrying her. Although she loves Lawrence, Dolores misses Kale's parties and returns to him, whereupon Kale threatens to publicize her activities unless Lawrence's father agrees to his demands. Lawrence takes a repentant Dolores away from one of Kale's riotous parties, but after Kale is found dead, Lawrence is arrested for murder.
Betty, a blind girl, is the sole "witness" to the murder of a mine owner and whose mistaken testimony convicts Sid Allen her own benefactor. Years later, the adult Betty returns to the mining town, her sight restored. Fearing that she may remember the truth, the real murderer, "Bull" Snide has the girl kidnapped.
