Arriving in Sacramento during the Gold Rush of 1849, John Joyce becomes the editor of a newspaper that crusades stridently for the reformation of the manners and morals of Sacramento's citizens. John meets Faro Sampson, whom he believes to be the daughter of a minister; he later discovers that her father is a notorious gambler and that she is the chief attraction of a gambling casino. John spurns Faro, but a group of vigilantes, inspired largely by John's editorial policy, later find him in her room and denounce him as a hypocrite. John and Faro are then herded with the other undesirables of the town onto a cargo ship, to be taken to the East. The deportees overpower the ship's crew and take charge, but a boiler explodes and the ship drifts out into the open sea. A rugged seaman named Ben assumes command and attempts to molest John's sister, who had been put on the boat by accident. John rescues his sister, "the Devil's cargo" are rescued by another ship, and John is reconciled with Faro, finding love more rewarding than reform.