Hoping to improve her baby daughter Helen's chances in life, Mary Dorsey, an impoverished hotel maid who supports a drunken husband, substitutes her daughter for that of George Stevens, a traveling salesman, whose invalid wife and baby die soon after they arrive at the hotel. Hannah Shay, another maid, sees Mary do this and blackmails her to keep quiet until Mary dies five years later. Meanwhile, Stevens is taken in the firm, makes a fortune, and retires so that he and his sister can rear Helen. Years later, artist Walter Pemberton, one of Helen's two suitors, has old Hannah Shay pose as a gypsy. When Shay discovers Helen's identity, she blackmails her with the assistance of Helen's real father. After Shay and Dorsey are caught with jewels which Helen gave to them, Helen's identity is revealed. When Grant Murdock, her wealthy suitor, jilts her, Helen marries Walter, while Stevens says that she will always be his daughter.