A fella falls for the charms of a girl in the follies (standards were much lower back then, apparently). She doesn't think she'll marry him, but she does have his baby. She dies on a door threshhold and apparently knew she was about to because a picture of her is on the baby's person. Around the same time, the fella's friend dies, so he agrees to look after his son, who considers him an uncle. Both grow up. The fella has become a hardened businessman while his nephew is interested in helping his fellow man. His nephew and his daughter cross paths and he gets her to his way of thinking. Eventually, she is assigned to check conditions at a cannery owned by the original fella. A fire breaks out and she's badly injured.