Gordon Palmer is a lazy and cowardly rich man's son. When he and his fiancée, Aileen Merton, are held up by two crooks, Slug Williams and Beef O'Connell, he passively allows them to take whatever they want. At least he comes to life when they try to steal Aileen's engagement ring -- he scares them into giving that back. Aileen, however, is pretty fed up with him.

Angered by his son Dick's boastful ways, which in one incident lead him to lose a business deal, an automobile manufacturer challenges him to complete four difficult missions.

A freight train loses control and is barreling wildly toward the town of Benbow. A mail train is traveling in the opposite direction on the exact same set of tracks. The Midnight Limited, A passenger train carrying 300 people—including the dispatcher’s own sweetheart—is running on a parallel track. The dispatcher's desperate attempts to avert a catastrophic disaster as all three trains converge at the same point simultaneously fuels the narrative.

Tells of Caleb Plummer, his son Edward and blind daughter Bertha, and rivalry over neighbor May Fielding. May's friend Dot weds John Peerybingle; they find a lucky cricket in their cottage. A mortgage and house on fire figure in the story.

When Coast Guard Captain Tom Norris, at Point Lobos, Maine, save Natalie Aldridge from drowning, a romance blossoms much to the dislike of Carlton Aldrich, Natalie's uncle, who wishes her to marry Lonsdayle. In spite of her uncle, Natalie and Tom are married and live in a small cottage near the Coast Guard station, and Aldridge ignores them. Tom is assigned to capture the oyster pirates and does so, but the pirate leader escapes and plans to keep Tom from testifying against his men by kidnapping Natalie.