Gabriel Palombra, who operates a Punchinello street show in Venice, decides to fulfill his ambition of going to America. He leaves behind his wife, Sorrentina, promising to send for her. In the United States, disillusioned, he takes a job as porter in a barbershop, but when he is rewarded for returning a lost pocketbook, manicurist "Babe" Reynolds persuades him to bet on a winning horse. Under her influence he rises to wealth. Meanwhile, Sorrentina arrives in New York and takes work as a flower girl. Having married Gabriel, "Babe" brings charges of bigamy against him, but the judge, perceiving her game, sentences Gabriel, then paroles him to Sorrentina for life.