John McLean fails to obtain the coveted honor of selection to the Senior Society at Yale, but is cheered by a letter from his father who reminds him that the courage of the commonplace is the greatest of all. Nevertheless, the girl he loves leaves without bidding him goodbye and John, not knowing that her grief over his failure was the cause, assumes that she has lost faith in him. Three years later, John graduates from Boston Tech and is appointed superintendent of the Big Oriel Mine. Conditions are deplorable at his post and John sets out to win the confidence of the men, which he succeeds in doing, winning all but a few miners led by the foreman O'Hara. When a fire breaks out in the mine, the two adversaries are trapped in a shaft. O'Hara loses his mind and attacks his comrades but is knocked senseless by John. Relief arrives just in time and John finds himself a hero, not only to O'Hara and his former foes, but to the world outside.