A pilgrimage is on its way across the desert; among those going to the shrine are Jaquita, a young girl, and a rich woman, who is crippled and who has vowed to give the wonderful pearls about her neck to the Madonna, should she be healed. Jaquita covets these pearls. At the shrine the miracle takes place, and the lame woman walks. The pearls are hung about the neck of the statue. Jaquita tries to steal them, but is not successful. At home the girl thinks of nothing but the pearls and vows to marry the man who gets them for her. Horrified, all but one of her lovers leave her. Jose, however, struggles with his love for the girl and his religion. Love conquers, and he starts across the desert to the shrine. He gets the pearls. Later the theft is discovered, and the guilty pair are stoned out into the desert. Out on the desert the desperate pair determine to commit suicide, but in the sky a vision of the Madonna appears, they kneel in prayer and journey to the shrine, replacing the pearls on the neck of the statue. So they repent. Jaquita as a nun praying at the shrine, and Jose as a monk working in the gardens of the cloister, make a very beautiful finish to a notable picture.