When Jim is released from prison, he returns to his Chinatown neighborhood determined to lead a virtuous life. While walking, he hears a woman's cries issuing from a house and enters to investigate. In her delirium, the dying woman mistakes Jim for her nephew and entrusts him to deliver a package to her daughter.

John Oakhurst, a gentleman gambler, befriends Sandy Morton, who has dissipated his birthright through gambling and excessive drinking and dropped from his father's sight. Although Oakhurst soon takes Sandy's place in the affections of his father, he boards a train heading West and meets Pritchard, an alcoholic, and his wife, the Duchess. Pritchard is wanted by the law and Oakhurst helps him to escape detectives who are on his trail.

Vitturo Caggoni is a gay-hearted, rollicking Italian troubadour. He meets a young woman, Marjorie Holbrook, and falls in love with her, serenades her, and courts her in the old romantic troubadour way.

H. Oboe Rhodes, a "knight of the road," limps into a large city with the idea of appeasing his hunger. His first quest is the welcoming doors of a saloon in which a large free lunch is advertised.