Young high school teacher Rosalie Allen rejects the love of Dr. Paul Duncan to "save" Lionel Brooks, a man down on his luck.

A fabulous jewel known as the 'Dark Star' is stolen; a pastor's daughter gets involved, falling into the depths of a spy plot concerning war plans and fortifications...

New York police sergeant Jim Dark is determined that his daughter, Jenny, will be shielded from any knowledge of evil. Consequently, she lives in a dream world, imagining herself to be a descendant of Saint Jeanne d'Arc, but has a loyal friend in reporter Pep Mullins. Her school friend, Adele, also raised by overly protective parents, is ejected from her home when she becomes inebriated after spending an evening with a disreputable young man.

A bank clerk forges a check to help his girlfriend's father. He's found out, but instead of being arrested he becomes a member of a gang of forgers.

Austrian diplomats, seeking papers in the possession of the United States diplomat, work through the infatuation of his son, Harry, for an Italian widow. In his desperate financial straits, he is induced to turn traitor to his trust, but the woman, truly loving him, saves him from the consequences of his crime, at the cost of her own love and life.

Daughter of an Eastern lumber king, Stephanie Trent travels in the guise of a schoolteacher to the logging village of Trentsville to search for "a real man." There she meets Jimmy Raymond, a young novelist posing as a local while writing his story. When Stephanie comes to Jimmy's cabin to report a supposed plot against him, he acts as though he intends to assault her. She nearly throws herself out the window but is stopped by Jimmy, who explains that he is working on a novel and merely wanted to determine a young girl's reactions. In retaliation, she orders that he be kidnapped and held in a nearby cabin, but remorsefully nurses him back to health when he is shot trying to escape.

King Rudolph of Rugaria sends his son, Prince Boris, to America to marry into wealth so that the country can recover from its financial difficulties. Rich Mrs. Hanway, eager to have her daughter Althea become a princess, takes her with Boris to Rugaria.

Although Dolores Jardine's grandmother has engaged her to the wealthy young Spaniard, Pedro De Alvarez, she is determined to marry a man of her own choosing. She falls in love with novelist Richard Ferris who, although initially attracted by her beauty and Creole charm, abandons the girl when his old flame Lillian Hetherington suddenly appears. Seeking revenge, Dolores invites Richard to dinner and conceals Lillian behind a curtain. After overhearing Richard promise to marry Dolores, Lillian leaves in disgust and Dolores wanders into the woods distraught. Pedro prevents her from drowning herself and takes her to his heart.

Margaret Case seeks to live down the errors of the past, and in marriage finds happiness and security until her enemy again crosses her path and she realizes that life is like a house of glass where there is neither security nor seclusion.