Nadia, a poorly-paid stenographer, works in offices adjoining those where Mabel, her girl chum is employed. Nadia wears shabby clothing. Mabel is resplendent in beautiful garments. Nadia's father, a drunkard, forces the pay envelope from her hand, and the mother resorts with other men. "What's the use," says Nadia, when she is forced to contribute to satisfy her father's appetite for liquor, and sees her mother flaunt her shame. And so she listens to the urgings of Mabel that she become one to a party of four at Mabel's luxurious home. That night when Nadia leaves the office she goes to Mabel's flat, dons Mabel's finery and there meets Ashton, a wealthy rounder. She tastes liquor for the first time, wears a fine gown for the first time and dines for the first time in a questionable cabaret. In natural consequence, Nadia leaves her home and becomes a friend of Ashton.