Frank Trent, raised by his father with an old-fashioned reverence for women, goes to the city where he obtains a job as an aide to corrupt politician Senator Briggs. Learning that Briggs, who is supporting the incumbent mayor, plans to smear his opponent, Mrs. Burke, by stirring up charges that her adopted daughter Margaret is actually her illegitimate child, Frank quits his job and determines to prove Mrs. Burke's innocence. Frank goes to New Orleans to obtain the records which prove that Mrs. Burke adopted Margaret after her parents were killed in a train wreck. Briggs sends his henchmen after Frank, who, after a series of narrow escapes, finally succeeds in obtaining the diary of the child's doctor which substantiates Mrs. Burke's story. Frank returns with the evidence to learn that his father, James Trent, is actually James Burke, Mrs. Burke's husband who left her because of the scandal. Exonerated of all charges, Mrs.