Chick Crandall, half owner of the Flying A Ranch, returns home after a five-year absence and, because he is suspicious of his foreman Sam Curtis' activities, decides to proceed incognito. Disguised as Harold Montague, his partner's son, Chick works among the ranch hands and discovers that Curtis is rustling cattle and is responsible for driving Barbara Hampton and her aunt from their home.

A man dressed as the devil scares the gang into minding their mothers.

Perla Quaranta, a half-starved "daughter of Little Italy," is given the place in Carlo Bruni's "Butterfly Act" that is vacated by a chorus girl who has become overweight. Although Perla becomes friendly with Krug, the wire-man, she rejects him as a suitor, and in revenge Krug causes Perla's wire to break.

At the outbreak of the War Between the States, Maryland Calvert is loved by Maj. Alan Kendrick, son of a Virginia general, and Capt. Fulton Thorpe. Nancy, whom Thorpe has loved unwisely, follows him to Washington and commits suicide when she learns he will not marry her; as a result, Alan is forced to request his resignation. When Fort Sumter is fired upon, Alan, who admires Lincoln's principles, joins the Union Army though his father is among the Secessionist leaders; as a result, he is estranged from Maryland. Thorpe, who has joined the Confederacy as a spy, is responsible for Alan's arrest, but Maryland victoriously comes to his aid by ringing the alarm bell.