When pretty Helen Smith wanders into the city room of the Morning Times in search of a job, Hal Ashby, the frustrated author of the newspaper's "The Garden Beautiful" column, suggests to his editor, Caldwell, that Helen take over his assignment while he covers the fire beat. Against his better judgment, Caldwell agrees to the switch, and Hal immediately sets out to find an arsonist who has been terrorizing the city with a rash of deadly factory fires. While the Times runs a series of editorials sharply criticizing the city's administration for its failure to capture the arsonist, Hal discovers that, out of greed, the local Manufacturers' Association and Henry B. Smith, a factory owner and the city's political boss, have been conspiring to keep old factories from being condemned as fire hazards. In spite of threats of libel suits, Caldwell persists in his editorial attacks on the city government, and Hal, who has fallen in love with Helen, continues his investigations, unaware that Smith is Helen's father. Determined to implicate Smith, Hal sneaks into his factory one night and finds a rotten fire hose. Although caught and brought before an irate Smith, Hal refuses to be intimidated by the boss's threats. Later, Hal proposes to Helen, who, having rejected her father's choice for a son-in-law, anxiously anticipates introducing Hal. Eventually, however, Helen finds out that her father is the target of the Times 's attacks and, after denouncing Hal, quits the newspaper and takes a job at the family factory. During a banquet to celebrate Helen's new post at the factory, a fire breaks out. Hal, who has just tracked down the arsonist's hideout, deduces that the Smith factory is the next target and rushes to the scene. After risking his own life to pull Helen out of the raging fire, Hal is declared a local hero. In spite of his newfound fame, Hal quits the newspaper and accepts a lucrative position at the Smith factory.