Just after bidding a fond farewell to Stella Chapman, his sweetheart, Edmund Vance, receives a telegram telling him that he has acquired a fortune. He rushes back to tell Stella of his good luck, but finds her in the arms of another man. Disgusted by her faithlessness, he demands the return of their engagement ring and immediately leaves her. Stella finds out about the fortune and realizes that she has lost. She determines to get back at him and to this end seeks out Madeline Turner, a young and pretty girl who has recently lost her father in a very tragic manner. Mr. Turner had been involved by other business men, in some underhanded stock transactions. Exposure had come and as a result, he lost his money. The sudden loss of his fortunes gave the old man a shock which he did not survive, leaving Madeline and her mother almost penniless. Stella tells Madeline that it was Edmund Vance who ruined her father and poisons her mind against him. Madeline agrees to win his love and then break his heart. Edmund goes away to Catalina for a vacation, where the two girls follow him. Madeline, by pre-arrangement with Stella, makes it possible for Edmund to see her posing as a sea-maiden and he at once falls in love with her. She, very much against her will, also falls in love with him, but, nevertheless, when he proposes to her, she accuses him of being the cause of her father’s ruin and death. Later, Stella tells Edmund that she had lied to Madeline about him and gloats over the effect her disclosure produces. Madeline, overhearing the conversation, enters the room and faces Stella, who now sees that the game is up. Stella laughs scornfully and retires, calling them a pair of fools. Madeline, her heart torn with anguish that Edmund should know that she had been led to conspire against him, turns to depart, but is stopped by Edmund, who, understanding her position, forgives her and warmly clasps her to his heart.