The bored clubman sought the excitement of the street. The husband, believing himself neglected for his child, left his home. There in the back saloon seeking shelter from the storm, the two met the demi-monde. The clubman displayed his enticing work of art, when to their surprise a picture of the Madonna and child confronted their view. The storm over, they went forth into the sunshine of the world.

With a price upon his head. Texas Pete takes to the open country.

Vincento Perez, the governor of the Portuguese colony of Exile, is an unscrupulous and brutal man who is hated by the natives. Furthering his schemes, Perez tries to force silk dealers out of business, and reveals his plans to government engineer Richmond Harvey in a letter appealing for the American's help.

Sonia Smirnov, a Paris opera singer known as "The Black Butterfly", starts an affair with young Alan Hall. Hall, however, is still pining over his previous lover, a young peasant girl.

Carlotta has been brought up in an Italian convent, unaware that she is the illegitimate child of American architect J. Winthrop Drake. When her mother, an Italian opera singer, dies, Drake finally learns of Carlotta's existence and brings her back to New York with him without revealing the truth of their relationship.

Orphan Patience Sparhawk grows up poor until she becomes the ward of the wealthy Miss Tremont. Eventually out of gratitude Patience marries Miss Tremont's nephew, Beverly Peale, out of gratitude only to discover he is a drug user, making their marriage unhappy. When Beverly is found dead from a drug overdose Patience is accused of murder, put on trial and sentenced to die in the electric chair but is saved at the eleventh hour.

A family is attacked by Indians, the father killed and son captured. The widow remarries and her stepdaughter, Mabel, encourages her stepbrother to find his lost half-brother. Dick, influenced by a gambler, gambles away his money and tries to exploit Mabel, prompting her to join the search with a gambler she meets, Jack. They discover the brother is now an Indian chief, leading to further complications.

Young Victor Jones of America is discovered to be an exact lookalike for England's Earl of Rochester, a circumstance which results in Jones deciding to replace the Earl after an unfortunate accident.

The sole support of her invalid mother and young crippled brother, Heloise Broulette is forced to become the mistress of Leland Norton in order to secure the money for an operation to save her mother's life. Mrs. Broulette recovers, but when she discovers the real source of her daughter's income, the news kills her. After her mother's death, Heloise leaves her career behind and goes to the country where she takes a job as a secretary to author Carter Vail, who falls in love with her.

In ancient Egypt a Princess is loved by a simple Shepherd, to the great displeasure of the King, who orders the offending lover be buried alive, for he had promised his daughter to the builder of the Temple. Breaking a double scarab in two, the shepherd and the Princess each keep a broken half and pledge that their souls will be reunited in death. Centuries later Capt. Harry Paget of the English garrison at the Sudan is enchanted by Grace Leslie, the daughter of Sir Hector Leslie, commander of the garrison.