Janet Hall begins a romance with Dale Overton, a small town minister, after the death of Henry Dalton, with whom she had an illegitimate child. At first, because of her past, she refuses to marry him, but then, after listening to his sermons about forgiveness, she consents, although she makes sure that he knows nothing of her history. Finally, however, he does find out about her relationship with Henry, and just as Janet feared he might, he renounces his wife. Defending Janet, Dale's friend, Stuart Doane, accuses the minister of spreading the word about tolerance without actually believing it himself. Dale realizes his hypocrisy, and then, after forgiving Janet, sees through her recovery from a breakdown brought on by the sudden disclosure of her past and by the subsequent strain on her marriage.—Pamela Short

Janet Hall is tempted by Henry Dalton. Innately pure and good, she bitterly regrets her false step. She is devoted to her little illegitimate child and hates her mode of life dancing in a cabaret. She pleads in vain with Dalton to marry her and give their child a name. Dalton is set upon by thugs and mortally injured. On his deathbed he makes out a will leaving his house in the village to the woman he has wronged. Rev. Overton, the village pastor, rules his congregation with a firm hand. Virtuous and God-fearing, he has no tolerance of vice, particularly in women. In this belief he has brought up his son, Dale, who is studying for the ministry, and Dale has come to look upon all fallen woman us one of the lowest of God's creatures. Upon completing his ministerial course, Dale takes his father's pulpit and continues his work. One night Janet's little girl, Ruth, is taken sick and Janet goes to the pastor for help. She and Dale meet for the first time and are attracted to each other. When he asks her to be his wife she feels that she is unworthy, the shadow of her past rises and confronts her, but finally after a long, hard struggle, she decides to accept and make up for the mistake of the past by a life of goodness and charity. After the marriage, Dale writes his former boxing instructor and devoted friend Doane, telling about his happiness and inviting Doane to visit them. Doane accepts. He is amazed to find the perfect wife no other than Janet Hall, the former cabaret dancer and sweetheart of Dalton. Janet begs him not to destroy her happiness by revealing her past. He promises to keep her secret. Rummaging in the garret, little Ruth comes across Dalton's picture; she is strongly attracted to it and tries in her childish way to figure out the name. Janet is the center of the admiring household when Ruth rushes in with the photograph. Janet tries to conceal it but too late, others have seen. Dale recognizes the picture as that of the man who had left everything to a fallen woman and he denounces his wife as a cheat and an impostor. Doane is disgusted with the hypocrisy of their religion, a religion that preaches tolerance and charity and practices the most cruel intolerance. He finally convinces Dale that his place is by his wife's side, that no matter what her past, she is now pure and noble, and that he should comfort and protect her. Against his parents' bitter protests, he takes Janet in his arms and goes away with her. The strain has been too much and Janet is taken violently ill. Praying for her recovery her husband comes to a realization of the meaning of religion, that it is not for man to judge his fellow-man, that charity and kindness are above all. When Janet awakes to life, she finds her husband and his parents kneeling at her bedside in thanksgiving that her life has been spared.—Moving Picture World synopsis