In 1890, two British expatriates, Robert Herrick and Huish, and German Captain Jakob Thorbecke, are commissioned to sail a Yankee schooner called The Golden State , whose captain and crew have died of smallpox. From Tehua in the South Seas to Australia, they are to deliver a cargo of champagne. Thorbecke decides to head for Peru, however, so he can sell the merchandise and pocket the money. While sailing, Faith Wishart, daughter of the deceased captain, comes out of her hiding place on board and, by briefly holding Thorbecke at gunpoint, demands he make the delivery.

High school students led by the Girl and Boy turn from Christianity toward secret atheistic meetings. When a girl is accidentally killed by a stairway collapse, the Girl and Boy go to reform school where they are treated brutally.

The hard-boiled owner of a big-city speakeasy is reunited with her daughter, who has been raised to believe that her mother is dead, then finds herself accused of murdering her daughter's no-good boyfriend.

A novelist and his younger brother fall in love with the same woman.

When Peaceful Patton goes to work at the Martini ranch he is mistaken for the notorious outlaw the Hard Hombre. This enables him to force the ranchers to divide up the water rights. But he is in trouble when his mother arrives and exposes the hoax.

Soap-opera about a social-climbing Jewish man and his old-world parents who are heartbroken by his rejection of them. Young Morris Goldfish follows his immigrant father into business. His ruthless business practices cause him to become a big success, and he moves the family to Park Avenue. They go, but were happier back on the East Side. Morris is ashamed of this parents and his humble origins, but learns in the end that there is more to life than money.

Railroad foes cause terror on the tracks with the illusion of a ghost train.