Stephen Verrill dies, leaving the deed to a valuable gold mine to his wife and child. Verrill's widow, planning to establish a company to operate the mine, sails aboard the steamer Caribee bound for New York. With the aid of Allen, the mate, Cuttle, a notorious trader, scuttles the ship on a wild coastline. As the lifeboat drifts towards a small island, it is overturned by a giant octopus, and the baby is washed ashore, the mine deed tied to her neck. As Verrill apparently has no heirs, his property reverts back to the state and Cuttle buys it. Ten years later, Tom Ross, the son of the Caribee 's captain, determines to prove his father's innocence and returns to the South Sea island where he finds Mimi Verrill, now grown to adulthood. After obtaining proof of his father's murder, Tom returns home with Mimi where they fight to reclaim the mine. After many arduous confrontations with Cuttle, the villain is devoured by a shark, Mimi regains her claim to the mine and marries Tom.—AFI