Elnora Comstock is the badly abused daughter of Katherine Comstock, who blames her because her father was drowned while on the way home the night she was born. She finds her comfort with Margaret and Westley Sinton, a childless neighboring couple, who help her with her school costs, as does the wealthy Mrs. Parker, who takes an interest in the talented young girl. She meets and falls in love with Phillip Ammon, the nephew of Dr. Ammon, but learns that he is already engaged. The money that Elnora has saved for her college education is stolen, and when Mrs. Comstock goes to retrieve it from a suspect, she also learns of the duplicity of her husband, who had been courting a neighboring woman on the night he drowned. She begs forgiveness of Elnora, and the romance of Elnora and Phillip also begins to flourish.

Just before Adolph Greig's solo violin performance at the Cosmopolitan Orchestra, his right hand is injured and his dream, shattered. His flighty children turn their backs on him and he collapses in the street. However, an opportunity arises for him to tutor a young violin prodigy.

A conceited college track star, used to being "big man on campus", gets a jolt when he loses an election to see who is the most popular man in the school.