A great provincial lawyer is found murdered with a revolver shot in the red path that leads to his mistress's home. The Advocate General accuses his own wife who was a betrayed mistress and whom he assumes guilty out of spite. But the accused's daughter finds the real culprit.

Now that their parents are ruined, Jacques Eyssette and his younger brother Daniel, are driven to fend for themselves. Jacques becomes the secretary of a marquis who exploits him by making him work so hard that his health gets damaged. Daniel, on his part, is hired as a supervisor and Latin teacher in a school in the province. It soon happens that he is in a bad situation too as, after being subjected to repeated harassment, he ends up being fired. Daniel then decides to join Jacques in Paris, hoping to embark on a literary career. Unfortunately, Irma Borel, an actress, sets her sight on him and drags him into a life of vice.