A small-town girl returns home from schooling in the East to find that her father's small store and indeed the whole town are in danger of being eliminated by a ruthless land developer. The developer has a son who falls for the young girl, and together they try to come up with a plan to save her father's store and the town.

Law partners, Gerard Hale and Luther Snaith, vie for a vacant Senate seat as well as the governor's daughter Marion. When Tom Shores and his sister Mary appear at the firm with the news that her two-year-old is the illegitimate child of Gerard's late father, Gerard Hale, Sr., Snaith sees the opportunity to win both the Senate seat and Marion. Gerard, feeling an obligation, gives Mary a check for $50,000. Luther has Mary and Tom seized by detectives to force an open admission from Gerard of culpability. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hale and Marion have stopped in to visit and Gerard, fearing the truth will prove fatal to his mother's ailing heart, claims that the baby is his. Mrs. Hale is confined to bed and Snaith blackmails Gerard to withdraw from the race. Mrs. Hale asks Gerard to do his duty and wed Mary. Mary wants to be truthful, but Gerard fears that may prove fatal to his mother. However, when Mrs. Hale dies, Gerard is freed from the shackles of truth.

Bruce Blake, a wealthy and irresponsible playboy, finds himself in trouble after proposing to a dancer and then fleeing to the country under his valet's name, only to find the dancer dead and himself implicated in her murder. He falls for a dairy maid, but the police arrive to arrest him for the murder. Just as he is about to be arrested, news breaks that the dancer died of natural causes, and the case is dropped. Bruce then discovers his dairy maid is actually a millionaire's daughter seeking love for herself.

Lumber magnate Elihu Bennett seeks a monopoly in California's redwoods, clashing with mountain families like the Simpsons, who own valuable timber land. His daughter Ruth Bennett, educated and independent, disguises herself as a stenographer to spy on Stocker, her father's unscrupulous partner, and discovers his fraudulent schemes. She falls for Jerry Simpson, a lawyer and leader of the mountain folk, learning of Stocker's plot to steal their land and destroy ancient trees, including a beloved sequoia. After Stocker assaults Ruth, Jerry saves her, and Stocker dies in a reckless escape down a water flume. Elihu Bennett, realizing the truth, agrees to let the Simpsons keep their land, and Ruth and Jerry's love story culminates.

Charity and her young brother are taken in by Merlin Durand, the son of a penurious millionaire, when their mother, a poor cleaning woman, dies. Charity is a strong believer in the world of fairy tales, and calls Merlin "The Prince". Merlin's cheapskate father cuts off his allowance until he gets a job and earns a salary, then leaves home for a "water cure". His servants immediately take a vacation, leaving the house empty, so Charity and Merlin hide there until Merlin can find a job. Charity begins to call the mansion "Charity Castle". They soon wind up involved with a strange cast of characters, including a burglar and an unemployed Shakespearean actor.

On a desolate beach near a lifesaving station, Ira, the youngest member of the lifeguard crew, rescues a baby girl from a wreck. The child is cared for at the station, where the men christen her Periwinkle. Living near the station are Ephraiam Rawlins and his childless daughter Ann, a widow with maternal longings. Joyously, Ann takes charge of Periwinkle and raises the girl as her own. Grown to adulthood, Periwinkle is the bright spot for the men at the station. One day, Richard Langdon Evans, a dissolute, wealthy young New Yorker, is cast ashore from the wreck of his yacht. Periwinkle, aiding the lifesavers, helps bring him back to life. Her innocent goodness and faith transform Dick from a carousing society ne'er-do-well to a man of noble ambitions. Thus rehabilitated, Dick wins Periwinkle's hand in marriage.

To maintain order aboard the Southern Cross, Bull Dorgan, its fierce captain, beats Pedro, a trouble-making sailor, who swears revenge as he steers the boat toward the wild Barbary Coast.