Mrs. Vargas has decided that her daughter Alma will marry Duke Pablo Dominguez, a good match for her, but not to the young lady's taste. Knowing that discussion was pointless, Alma decided to run away rather than consent to a union she found repugnant. A brave truck driver takes her to the South of France, where she sets sail for the Balearic Islands. On the boat, she meets two friendly stowaways, Miguel and Pierrot. Penniless, Alma finds work in an inn deserted by customers. Miguel and Pierrot manage to get themselves hired to liven up the room with their songs, and they soon attract a large, mostly female, clientele.

The scene is set during the Second Empire. Captain Bitterlin watches jealously over his lovely daughter Madeleine but he cannot prevent nature from demanding its rights and Madeleine soon finds herself a suitor in the person of Mario, a dashing young songwriter. Bitterlin, who wishes his daughter to "evade the grip" of the young man, takes her away to Monte Carlo. There, the captain does what he had sworn he would never do, he gambles in a casino. And even more upsetting: Mario might well be hereabouts...