Captain Gant is a hard man. The closest he had ever come to having a friend was in the person of his mate, Warren Gillcrest. The captain was hated by his men. A few hours out of port, the men’s dissatisfaction over their treatment comes to a head and they are on the point of attacking the captain when the leader counsels the men to wait until the ship is further away from land. The captain sees the signs of dissatisfaction among his men and returns to his cabin to prepare for it. As he starts down the gangway his attention is suddenly attracted to one of the hatchways, and watching unobserved, he sees a slight figure, dressed as a boy, emerge. When the captain confronts the stowaway the shock causes the stranger to stagger backward. Gant, seeing that it is a girl, takes her into his cabin and then attacks her. Gillcrest has overheard the scuffle and realizes what is going on. He is unable to stand the thought of the girl being in the captain’s power, and in spite of consequences, goes to her assistance. He and Gant have a fight, in which the captain is knocked out. Gillcrest takes the girl to the deck, and is on the point of lowering her to one of the boats when he looks back and sees the crew sneaking towards the captain’s cabin. The captain, meanwhile, has rushed on deck and finds himself in the midst of the men. They have a fierce fight and the captain is about overpowered from numbers when the leader is knocked out. The others hesitate, and at this moment Gillcrest rushes in and the crew all quit fighting. Gant is down. The girl rushes up and they find that he is seriously hurt. Gillcrest and the girl take him to his cabin and try to ease the last moments, but it is all in vain and the captain slowly sinks. He gradually loses his strength and begs forgiveness of both Gillcrest and the girl and tells them that he has always been among hard people and that is what had caused him to become so hard. As they forgive him the captain sinks back and his life slowly leaves.