Follows three generations of the Mayne family through the year 1921-22. The 81-year-old patriarch reminisces about his rough beginnings in post-Civil War railroading, son Rufus rides rough waters as a wealthy financier, and his wife and three daughters muddle through their New York high society life.

Stephen Verrill dies, leaving the deed to a valuable gold mine to his wife and child. Verrill's widow, planning to establish a company to operate the mine, sails aboard the steamer Caribee bound for New York. With the aid of Allen, the mate, Cuttle, a notorious trader, scuttles the ship on a wild coastline. As the lifeboat drifts towards a small island, it is overturned by a giant octopus, and the baby is washed ashore, the mine deed tied to her neck.