Mary Pickford plays "Rags," a pretty but wild girl who defends her alcoholic father a disgraced bank cashier, no matter how he mistreats her.

After bank cashier Paul Ferguson proposes to Alice McCloud, it is discovered that he is short in his accounts. Regardless, Alice accepts the proposal and her guardian, bank president John Hardesty, permits the couple to avoid prosecution by leaving town. Years later, Paul is the town drunk in a Western mining camp; Alice died after giving birth to a girl, who becomes a spirited tomboy known as Rags. Although Paul abuses her, Rags protects him during a barroom brawl. Keith Duncan, a wealthy young mining engineer, who is also John Hardesty's nephew, falls in love with Rags. She returns Keith's affection, but realizes that their social positions prevent them from marrying. When Rags learns that Paul and two accomplices plan to rob the mining company's payroll, she alerts the sheriff. Paul is mortally wounded in the ensuing battle, and leaves behind a request for John to take care of Rags. The girl gradually adapts to life in the palatial Hardesty mansion, and John approves her romance with Keith. Although a misunderstanding drives Rags and Keith apart, their love ultimately triumphs.