In a squalid manufacturing town in New York State, Gladys Cosgrove, who lives with her bachelor uncle, court reporter John Cosgrove, sells tickets at the Elysium Theater, suffering the insults and smirks of the town loafers and wise guys, particularly Striker, owner of the speakeasy, his halfwit friend, Carlos, and Sheik Smith. She is saved from embarrassment one night by Terry Pomfret, a wealthy young college student, promised to Isabelle Van Court, and despite her uncle's determination to prevent it, a romance develops. Terry's mother disapproves of Gladys and prevails upon her to persuade him to return to school. Learning of Striker's decadent behavior toward Gladys, Terry whips him. Smith is killed, and Gladys, believing Terry guilty, confesses to the crime, claiming to have had an affair with Smith. Later, she exacts a confession from her uncle that he killed Smith, mistaking him for Terry. Her uncle then kills both Striker and himself, while Terry wins forgiveness and his family's consent to marriage with Gladys.