A young girl, Anemone (Mary Pickford), who lives with her Aunt (Ida Waterman) is abducted by a crude family of Virginia mountain moonshiners. A fight between two of the young male relatives decides who will marry the girl. Lancer (James Kirkwood) is the winner and marries Anemone against her will. She is reunited some time later with her Aunt, but when she learns Lancer is in dire trouble she returns and stays by his side, realizing she had always been in love with him.—Pamela Short

The Mornes of Virginia are a lawless mountain clan, a strong, fierce folk, scornful of any law save that writ large in their own hearts. They dwell on a nearly inaccessible peak called the Eagle's Eyrie, and because of their craggy abode and their fierce natures are called the "Eagles." Lancer, son of the leader, has been sent to college by Anemone's aunt, Mrs. Breckenridge, who is a Morne herself, though Anemone, her petted and cherished niece, is ignorant of this fact, as are the rest of the townspeople. Lancer's father is arrested for moonshining, and Lancer shakes off the shackles of civilization and leads the clan to the rescue of his father, joining the Mornes in their lawless life in the Eyrie. Fisher Morne, the brutal and uncouth cousin of Lancer, falls in love with Anemone, and being repulsed by her, abducts her and carries her off to the Eagle's Eyrie. Lancer and Anemone have met and have felt an irresistible attraction for each other. When Anemone finds Lancer at the Eyrie, she begs him to save her and send her back to the valley. But with the wild daring of his clan, Lancer tells her he intends to have her for himself, fights Fisher for her, and conquers. Anemone marries Lancer to save her aunt from paying the immense ransom Fisher would exact for her return, but tells Lancer she hates him, and finally convinces him that she does. In anger, Lancer replies that he will never speak a word of love to her until she asks him to, and they live in the Eyrie as strangers. Fisher shoots Lancer and lays the crime on Anemone. The wounded Lancer demands that Anemone be returned in safety to her aunt, declaring she is innocent. Anemone learns that the sheriff is leading a posse up to the Eyrie to attack the Mornes, who have been betrayed by the traitor, Fisher, and she returns to lead the clan against the representative of the law, for she has learned to love Lancer and now longs to be herself considered an "Eagle." She reaches the clan in time to warn them, and the baffled posse returns. Anemone's aunt, at the crucial moment loyal to the Mornes, comes to the Eyrie, and shows them through the action of the traitor, Fisher, the folly of outlawry and its inevitable end. Lancer, now the acknowledged leader, through the sweet influence of the noble little Anemone, recognizes the truth of his aunt's words. The Mornes promise no longer to rebel against their State. Lancer and his bride begin their honeymoon in the Eyrie, and Anemone is at last truly happy as the Eagle's mate.—Moving Picture World synopsis