Phemie, an avowed man-hater, marries Joe, the village blacksmith.

A physician is dragged down to the depths by the drug habit, losing position and wealth. After pawning every available possession except a revolver to satisfy his craving for the drug, he returns to his cheap lodging house to end his life. Half stupefied, he gets into the wrong room, where he finds a woman and daughter almost starved. He takes his revolver and pawns it to buy food for them. His own act of kindness gives him a new view of life and he struggles to break his habit. Many times he almost falls again, but is aided by a nurse whom he had known years before. Finally he throws off the yoke altogether and wins back to manhood and the love of a woman.