Frank Boyd, a restless but energetic youth, has his heart set on Hallie, the village belle, and invents an automobile attachment that earns him a fortune. Marriage, fatherhood, and home life all prove irksome to him, and he eventually neglects his family. Frank's brother, Arthur, has a secret affair with Bertha, a poor seamstress whom he deserts, and later returns to find that she has drowned herself. Frank, unable to derive any satisfaction from life, finds diversion in artificial gaiety. When he suspects Yost, a young wastrel, of being Hallie's lover, his jealousy is aroused. Frank realizes the error of his ways and becomes a devoted husband and father. —AFI