Frank flirts with the pretty blonde stenographer in his hotel. She takes the conceit out of him then falls in love with him. A bellboy gets Frank in very wrong, but in an amusing manner he sets himself right, then, wedding bells.

The Youngloves have a cozy little apartment and a jewel of a cook, Bridget, and are happy until the landlord raises the rent. A slick agent convinces them to take a lease on "the modern Paradise” in Arcadia. A long, frightful journey takes them to "Eros Villa” a tumbledown old shack with a scrubby hedge running around it. After a veritable nightmare of a night trying to sleep on hastily-made-up hard beds and being scared nearly to death by huge rats scampering through the rooms the Youngloves rush to the agent's office, where he agrees to tear up the lease for two months' rent! The Youngloves, return to their old flat, sadder and wiser, but happy.

Retired sea captain Jonah Grundell is in charge of his niece Polly's fortune until she comes of age, or marries with his consent; if she marries without his consent before she is 21, the fortune goes to Jonah. He has handled the money so long he hates to give it up, so when Polly reaches 21, he manages to keep her in ignorance of the fact, and enters into an agreement with family lawyer Daniel White that he shall marry her and divide the money with him. White is a solemn old hypocrite, much admired by Jonah's spinster sister Myra; his one weakness is his love of the bottle. Fresh book agent Benjamin Bunter arrives in town with a flourish, meets and falls in love with Polly, and she falls in love with him. Bunter puts White out of the running, then digs up a birth certificate that proves that Polly is over 21. He forces Jonah to consent to their marriage, while White is left to the consolation of Myra.

Ruth and her father stay at an inn run by the malicious Scroogles. The Scroogles rob Ruth's father, throw his seemingly dead body over a cliff, and deny he was ever there when Ruth asks. Ruth seeks help from artist Richard Foster. Together, they find evidence, confront the Scroogles, leading to a struggle where Mr. Scroogles accidentally kills his wife before being shot and dying himself. Ruth and Foster (now engaged) find her father alive but dazed; he recovers, and adopts a mistreated girl from the inn. The traumatic "empty room" incident leaves a lasting impression on Ruth.