In a little river town of the South, early in the seventies, lived a young married couple with but one child, a bright little cherub, idolized by her father but neglected by her mother, who unfortunately was too young to realize the responsibility of motherhood. Jim Langdon, her honest and big-hearted husband, pondered long on the seeming coldness of his wife, little dreaming that the cause of it all is a mad and unreasonable infatuation for Joe Herndon, a rambler, who dressed well and lived at the best hotel. Poor little Mabel Langdon was dazzled by the veneer of this clever rogue, and so carefully did he plan his schemes and so seemingly sincere was he in his protestations of undying love that the young wife, without realizing the danger she is in, places herself in the gambler’s power and consents to an elopement with the blackest of villains. The opening scene of the picture shows the wife planning to leave by the early morning boat with her paramour. A letter left at a trysting place instructs her to be in readiness to embark on the steamer “Gem,” which leaves at daylight. We next catch a glimpse of the bar of the Hotel Royal, where Herndon is engaged in a game of cards with big Jim Langdon, the man he is seeking to ruin. Jim has lost nearly every dollar he has in the world, and that, with his domestic troubles, drives him to desperation, and forgetting all else but that the smooth, crafty gambler sitting opposite to him has brought him to beggary, he springs at the throat of his adversary and would throttle him but for the interference of others. Gathering up the stakes quickly, Herndon notes the time is fast approaching when he is to meet Mabel at the landing. He hastens to his room, packs his valise, and makes his way quickly to the appointed spot, and is soon joined by the guilty wife. But back in the little home a baby girl awakens, and hearing no familiar voice to greet her cries, gets out of bed and toddles about the house to find her mamma. In vain she searches; then making her way to the front door she is soon outside the house and on her way down the street, crying for her papa. Reaching the entrance to the hotel, the child is found and taken to her father inside. With a cry of alarm the distracted man clasps his little one to his breast and questions her as to what brings her there and where was her mother that she allowed her child to wander forth on the streets alone and in such a garb. Then the revelation comes. Pinned on the gown of the baby is a crumpled note which Mabel had placed there. With trembling hands Jim unfolds it and reads the awful confession of his child’s mother, that she no longer cares for him and has gone away with the man who has robbed him of every dollar he had in the world. With the cry of a wounded heart, the betrayed husband staggers to his feet and swears an oath of vengeance on the wrecker of his happiness. He is instantly surrounded by sympathizing friends, among them old Judge Hay, a fire-eating and fearless war veteran, who at once volunteers his assistance to help run down and punish “the miserable boss thief and tinhorn gambler,” as he expresses it. Someone suggests that the boat has not yet left and perhaps the guilty couple could be apprehended before they had time to embark. Jim and the judge hurry to the landing, but arrive just in time to see the “Gem” swing out into midstream, and catch a glimpse of the triumphant Herndon and the shrinking, terror-stricken wife. “Get horses at once, ride down to the levee as fast as we can go, overtake the steamer and pass her, then take a rowboat and board her,” gasps the winded and excited judge. His suggestion is at once acted upon and carried out successfully. A small boat shoots under the prow of the steamer and two men fling themselves over the forward rail. It is Jim Langdon and his friend, the judge. The guilty couple see them as soon as the crew of the boat, and, completely unnerved, the gambler throws the terrified wife from him with brutal force and rushes aft to hide himself from the wrath of the avenging husband, leaving the woman in a dead faint on the deck. Now the chase begins, the gambler making desperate efforts to elude the maddened husband, while the wife, who has awakened from her swoon, pleads wildly with the officers of the boat to prevent bloodshed. At length, almost insane from fear, Herndon rushes below to the furnaces, and securing a burning brand hurls it into the midst of the cargo of turpentine, setting fire to the boat, and then dives headlong into the eddying waters and strikes out for the shore. Not being a strong swimmer, and ignorant of the treacherous currents of the river, his effort at escape proves futile, and battling desperately for his life, the unfortunate wretch sinks from view and is seen no more, thus ending a life of corruptness and sin. Now we return to the burning boat, where the crew are fighting furiously to quench the flames. A lifeboat is lowered, and. carrying the inanimate body of his wife in his arms, big Jim Langdon and his friend leap into it and in a few seconds are safely beyond the danger zone of the burning steamer. Back to town the saddened husband returns with his repentant and crestfallen wife. Her neighbors turn against her and flaunt her sin in her face. It is then that the big heart of her husband speaks and makes excuses for the erring woman, “She is too young to know her own mind,” he explains to those who judge her, and so folding her on his breast be stands like a rock between her and the scoffs of those who would crush her further by their taunts.