A wealthy old man is murdered after deciding to write his nephew out of his will. Fearing that he will be accused of the murder his nephew takes flight but, with the help of a young woman whose life he saves, he has to try and track down the real murderer.

Ann Reid moves to the city to study opera but is discouraged by her teachers and so becomes a cabaret singer instead. At Balvini’s cabaret, Ann’s friend Dolly introduces her to Ted Vane, who asks Ann to be his wife.

On a beach in southern Italy, Gianna Russelli practices her dancing with her devoted brother Russino, looking forward to the day when she will begin formal dance studies. One day the beautiful Countess Michetti comes to the village and engages in a flirtation with Russino, but when her former lover, Prince Viscomte, arrives with his closest friend, Count Paul Trovelli, the countess resumes her affair with the prince.

Robert "Bob" Wesley horrifies his father, Admiral John Wesley of the Naval Advisory Board, by failing his examination at the Annapolis naval academy. Bob seizes the chance to redeem himself, however, when he overhears Hanson, the butler, plotting with German agent Count Von Ornstorff to deliver his father's plans for the Atlantic coastal defenses to German Baroness Von Hulda. In Baltimore, Bob meets the baroness' ship and, with the aid of an old college professor, makes her his prisoner. Having impersonated a woman in the college play, Bob disguises himself as the baroness, rendezvous with the spies, and obtains the plans.

Henry Egbert Xerxes' big chance as a cub reporter comes when he is assigned to track down a gang of counterfeiters which gathers regularly at the Red Dog Inn. As he leaves the office, Henry witnesses a girl being dragged into a cab -- the same girl he had seen that morning passing counterfeit money. Henry follows, but on overtaking the cab, he finds it empty. At the Red Dog Inn, he discovers that the girl is being held captive. After a series of rough and tumble adventures with the resident thugs, he and the girl escape, after which he rushes home to write up the story. When it fails to appear in print, Henry storms into the city room only to discover that the entire business was a hoax, intended to test his reporter's instincts.

Peter James Slaney, just released from prison, is the only boarder who is kind to Lena, the maid at the cheap Paris Hotel. So that Lena can leave her abusive landlady, Slaney accepts $2,500 from a stranger, who threatens to send Slaney back to prison unless he undertakes a job. Slaney is sent to the home of political boss John Biggs with a sealed envelope which he is to open after entering.

Traveling from the Latin Quarter of Paris to Brittany to seek inspiration for his painting, artist Paul Dachette finds it in the person of Mignon, an orphan who consents to pose for him.

Count Camello lives on his fine estate in Italy, near the home occupied by Sir James Drake and his family. Gregory Baldi, a parasitical cousin of the count, is courting Mary Drake, and although the count also loves the girl, he conceals his feelings out of respect for his cousin. When war breaks out, Camello enlists while Gregory convinces Mary's brother Oliver that Oliver has killed an opponent in a duel and that the only way to escape a murder charge is to disguise himself by going to war under Gregory's name. Wounded, Count Camello returns from the front and, after Gregory is reported dead, proposes to Mary. On the eve of their wedding, Gregory returns unexpectedly and, in dire need of money, buries his cousin alive in the family vault.

Professional forger Bill Butters realizes one day that the police are closing in on him, and convinces his daughter Peggy to flee.

Angela, a lovely young woman of eighteen, lives with her grandmother in Virginia but knows very little about her mother, Lady Eldone, who after the death of Angela's father, moved to Europe and married an English army captain. When Captain Eldone is reported dead, Lady Eldone returns to the United States determined to marry a wealthy man.