The action begins in 1913, where our hero Carl (Charles Emmett Mack) is released from prison, where he served a sentence for stealing. Spurned by his circumstance, Carl rejects God and resumes his fast life of crime. Before long, however, his fate intersects with that of Mary, a devout orphan (played by Norma Shearer, with her future screen persona already intact), prompting a romance and a reevaluation.