On the night of his engagement to Sybil Eliot, young Tommy Carteret realizes that his father is guilty of intruding on a neighbor's household. Taking the blame on himself, he consents to go with Hartwell, the man who preferred charges against him, and live in a desolate mountain cabin. There he meets Marianna, the daughter of a poor family, who is pursued by Joe Borral though she does not love him. Joe threatens the intruder, and when Marianna goes to warn him and is found in his cabin, she declares that Tommy is to marry her, and in a confused state, Tommy agrees. En route to the minister, Tommy learns that Hartwell has died and that his fiancée has forgiven him, but Joe shoots Marianna and wounds Tommy. He is taken home to Sybil, and from time to time he suffers hallucinations in which Marianna comes between them; but eventually he improves and is free to marry Sybil.