In Bavaria lives a young girl, Regina Muller, and her mother. They receive word that their inn is about to be closed on account of non-payment, so Regina, seventeen years old, resolves to go to America and try her fortune in the new world. The following week Regina departs for New York, and upon her leaving her mother presents her with a locket containing a photo of the mother, herself, and begging her daughter to go the right road, no matter what temptations may come her way. On board the steamer Regina meets a country woman, much wiser than herself, coming to New York from abroad, who assures the young girl that her husband, a certain Gentleman Joe, will take care of her. On their arrival Regina is welcomed in the new home on the Bowery, and is charmed with the courtesy extended to her. Her friends are up to a different game. Gentleman Joe and his pals in the underworld commence their usual low plottings.