Col. Payson, of the Confederate Cavalry, hails a troop of passing Federal soldiers, mistaking it for Confederates, and is shot by one of them. He is brought into his house, where his son Maurice, swears that he will avenge his father’s death. Lieutenant Ford, in command of the Northern cavalry, pays a visit to Payson’s home and is deeply impressed by the beauty of Margaret. The death of her father and the enlisting of her brother, have so affected her that she is on the verge of death. Her brother, while trying to get past the Union lines is shot and brought home. Margaret, to save her brother from the death she knows is due him, cuts her hair, and when Lieut. Ford arrives, is taken captive in place of him. She is just on the point of being shot, when Ford reaches the spot and stops the shooting. He commends the young girl for her bravery, and expresses his willingness to be under her command for the rest of his life.