Following his wife's death, John Sparhawk takes his daughter Patience out West to a small mining town, where he meets and marries a dance hall girl. Patience's stepmother attempts to force the beautiful young woman to work in the dance hall, but on the advice of visiting criminal lawyer Garon Bourke, Patience refuses and returns to the East. Eventually she marries Beverly Peale, and when he is found poisoned, Patience is arrested for murder and sentenced to die. Through Garon's efforts, however, Patience ultimately escapes the electric chair.—AFI