Leone, a Papal guard, is devastated when his wife drowns herself after mistakenly thinking that he had abandoned her. He turns over his son David to be brought up by nuns, then enters a monastery. David is brought to London and is raised to be a beggar and thief until he is rescued by Dr. Roselli, an Italian political refugee, who raises David with his daughter Donna Roma. Years later David gets heavily involved in Italian politics and incurs the enmity of the corrupt Italian Prime Minister, which leads him to discover the hidden secrets of his family's past--and present.

On a whim and to save the good name of her sister, Dolly Erskine, a light-hearted young woman, declares that a riding master is her husband, not realizing that they have crossed the border into Scotland and that the confession of marriage is binding. However, she has unwittingly become the wife of an earl, falling in love with him in time to prevent a divorce decree. While Dolly is falling in love, the earl continues to pose as a riding master, and as such wins the heart of his pretty bride. Based on the play "Gretna Green," by Grace Livingston Purniss.

Adventerous engineer Robert Clay, goes to a South American country on an assignment by rich American Ted Langham to open an iron mine. While Robert is there, the unscrupulous General Mendoza tries to convince him to divide the mine's assets between them and President Alvarez. Mendoza starts a revolution against Alvarez when he and Clay will not go along with the plan, but he eventually is defeated after a long battle. Clay then is able to pursue his relationship with Hope, Langham's daughter, who has accompanied her father to South America.