Col. Trent speculates in cotton and loses, and is compelled to borrow $1,500 from Beal, for which he gives his I. O. U. payable in one month. Edith Trent is in love with John Craig. Beal is determined to win her, and his loans to her father are made with the idea of getting Col. Trent in his power, Trent is forced to sell three negro slaves, among them his faithful Jim. Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as president of the United States, and rumors of impending war create much excitement. Beal buys the three slaves, and takes them to his plantation. Trent continues gambling, and Beal refuses to advance him any more money, until his notes have been paid. The war breaks out and Beal demands payment of his notes. He agrees to cancel the indebtedness if Trent will persuade Edith to marry him, which proposition is indignantly declined by Trent. Edith overhears the conversation, and to save her father promises to marry Beal. She writes to Craig: “Dear John: Circumstances over which I have no control make it necessary for me to break our engagement. I cannot explain the reason. Please do not try to see me. Edith.” Craig is worried and angry, and endeavors to see Edith, without success. Beal’s overseer has always treated the slaves with brutality, and they rebel and turning upon him one day give him a severe beating. The ringleader is caught, and Beal, furious with anger, gives him a terrible beating, which is stopped by Edith, who is horror stricken at his brutality and breaks her engagement. In revenge, Beal determines to foreclose his mortgage on the Trent homestead, and Jim, the slave, makes up his mind to save his old master by destroying the notes. Beal catches him in the act, and a terrific struggle ensues. Jim breaks away and escapes, and Beal puts bloodhounds on his track. Jim runs to Col. Trent and tells him the story, and the Trents try to save Jim from his pursuers, spiriting him to the swamp where his trail is lost. Three years later Craig is a captain in the southern army. The Beal plantation is occupied by the northern troops, and Capt. Moore, the Union officer, receives word that Capt. Craig is sending dispatches through the lines by a negro messenger and is instructed to catch him. The negro referred to is Jim, who has attached himself to Craig. The message he carries is one to Edith, telling her that he will make his way through the lines on the following Wednesday night. Jim is captured, and Beal is jubilant as a trap is set for Craig. The appointed hour arrives, and Beal comes riding along in the moonlight. A soldier takes careful aim and fires, and the horse goes down. Craig darts into the bushes. In his anxiety to see Craig captured or killed, Beal has pushed forward and is struck by one of the bullets sent after Craig, and dies. Craig makes his way to Edith, and is joyfully greeted by her. Jim escapes and rushes to the Trent home, warning Jim that the Yankees are coming. Escape seems shut off, when the negro makes Jim change coats and hats with him and dash out. The Union soldiers take after him and Craig goes the other way. A thrilling chase takes place, the negro being finally wounded and captured, and he dies with a smile on his face, pleased at having saved Craig. After the war Craig erects a tombstone over grave of the negro reading: “Greater love hath no man than he who layeth down his life for a friend.”