Kuno Falkenberg, a handsome young naval lieutenant, is in love with his cousin Elly, who also happens to be the daughter of the colonel. Elly has met a swarthy and wealthy maharajah, who proposes marriage to her in a rowboat. She eagerly accepts. When Kuno finds the empty rowboat, he assumes that Elly has drowned - little suspecting that she has eloped to the Orient, or wherever wealthy maharajahs live.