Parisian music hall celebrity Mignon marries young American civil engineer John Stanley. When John is suddenly assigned to undertake an engineering project in the Sahara, Mignon accompanies him and her son to the desert, although she is accustomed to a life of frivolity. After months of discontent, Mignon leaves her husband and son for Russian Baron Alexis, who establishes her in a palace in Cairo. John is broken-hearted, and becomes a drug addict. Mignon later runs across her husband and son who have become beggars. She is filled with remorse and goes back to the desert to nurse her husband. John recovers slowly, reconciles with his wife, and the family finds happiness together.