Tess and Nell live with their father in a little cabin in the hills. Phil Carey, a mountaineer, is in love with Tess, who returns his affection, but delights in teasing him, Kingston Ford, a handsome stranger, comes to the hills to hunt, and overtaken by a storm in the woods, asks shelter at the cabin, Tess immediately loses her heart to the stranger, and he, tempted with the chance of flirtation with a pretty girl, makes ardent love to her. She believes his intentions to be honest and neglects Phil, her true sweetheart. But the sweet, serious face of Nell, the elder sister, attracts his fickle fancy also, and, one day, finding her asleep in a leafy bower, he plays the part of Prince Charming and stoops over and kisses her. Nell is fascinated by his manner, and allows him to caress her. Tess happens upon the tryst and is heart-broken at his perfidy. The lover, happening along, also sees the two together, and in a rage, confronts the stranger, accusing him of abusing the girl’s hospitality in a despicable way. He raises his gun to shoot, but the agile young Easterner quickly disarms him and he is hurled to the ground, his head hitting a sharp rock. He is unconscious. Believing him dead, Ford becomes terrified, and while Nell goes for help, he flees to the woods. At the cabin he comes upon Tess weeping. Terrified at his own danger, he gives no thought to her tears, but gives her an account of the quarrel and then asks her to save him. In the meantime, Nell finds the sheriff and her father and they start out to find Ford. They first restore Phil to consciousness and then in rage go after the stranger. Tess at first refuses to help him, but the sight of the approaching posse and her lover’s plight soften her and she hides him. When the men arrive she acts in an unconcerned manner, and feigns surprise at the news of Phil’s being wounded. They ask her whether she has seen Ford and she says no. They depart. Tess then liberates her lover, and when he tries to embrace her, she bids him go, having given him some of her father’s clothes in which to escape. He changes them under a tree in the woods. A few weeks later, Teas comes upon them, and taking them up, she accidentally drops a letter out from his coat and her curiosity overcoming her, she picks it up and reads it. It is a letter from another girl, begging him to return to her. She then realizes the baseness of the man, and, thoroughly disgusted at the thought of him, she takes the clothes and walks to the stream to throw them into the water, Phil, now entirely recovered from his wound, had followed her and has seen all that has happened. He thinks she has gone to the water to end it all, and rushes after her to save her. He begs her not to take her life, and she laughingly reassures him that she hadn’t intended to do anything of the sort. Phil’s love overcoming him, he cannot resist, and again declares his love for her. And Tess now willingly accepts the man who has so truly loved her.