Inconsiderate millionaire John Benson, philanthropist Oliver North, courageous Langdon Crane, wealthy idler Robert Curtis, and Lydia Benson are among the passengers on an ocean liner that is sunk by a German submarine. Carried away by the currents to a tropical island, the castaways endure hardships which bring out their true natures. Benson becomes kind and considerate underneath his gruff exterior, North exhibits a meanness and smallness, Crane turns into a coward and slacker when he is confronted by hard work, and Curtis develops into a dynamo of activity whose strength and consideration prompt Lydia to fall in love with him. Finally, they are rescued and all return home, where Lydia and Curtis are married.
The personal attributes of John Benson, Oliver North, Langdon Crane and Robert Curtis were noticeable to all their friends and acquaintances. Benson was a rich, hard-headed businessman. Oliver North was known as a philanthropist. Crane was the author of a book that reflected the author's personal experiences in adventure and deeds of daring. Robert Curtis was a young society "blood." Lydia Benson, a plain and sensible girl, with wealth at her command, had no desire to idle her time away at society's behest. She knew well the measure she placed on Crane's mock heroism; on North's self-advertising charities; on Curtis' idleness and wasting, but best of all she knew that her father was the soul of gentleness masked behind a gruff and falsely brusque exterior. She was glad when her father proposed a business trip to the Orient and asked her to go along. Mongolian nations were showing surface indications of unrest that meant much to American commerce, and it was appealing to Robert Curtis in the thought of breaking the monotony of his ill-considered ease. Langdon Crane announced that he was going to the Orient to gather "local color" for a successor to "Back to the Primitive." Philanthropist North declared that the heathen needed his attention, and so all these different types of humanity took passage, by merest chance on the same steamship. German submarines had not been reported in the Pacific, hence it was a profound surprise when a torpedo hit the steamship. Fate brought the Bensons, North, Crane, Curtis and a couple of sailors together in the same lifeboat. Cast upon an island in the mid-Pacific, the true natures of the various characters came to the surface. North, the philanthropist, developed a streak of selfishness that required force to thwart, else the others might have perished. The hero-author proved a coward. Benson showed his dominant spirit by taking command of the situation and in Robert Curtis the adventure roused a sense of usefulness. The castaways lived on tropical fruits and shellfish, built a camp and shelters and then drew lots to decide who should explore the island. While Lydia held the "straws" that should decide, Crane and North trembled with fear; gruff old Benson grabbed his straw with fearless resolution, and Curtis, having drawn broke his own straw in half to make sure it would be the shortest. The die being cast Curtis started to explore, but Lydia followed him, attracted by something more than admiration. They traveled day and night until they came upon a village across the island that proved to be the German submarine base. They pushed on and found a lonely wireless station, manned by one of Uncle Sam's nephews. The news of the submarine raid was flashed to Honolulu. Cruisers of the U.S. Navy hastened to the island, destroyed the German base, and rescued the marooned Americans. Safe once more on home soil, Lydia and Robert Curtis were married.
