In a garish theatrical boardinghouse in New York, orphan Ruth Colby ( Dorothy Gish ), who taught herself to be an actress through a correspondence course, turns for companionship to Jack Martin, the dissolute cast-off son of wealthy philanthropist Mrs. Martin. The two young people fall in love and are married by "the judge," a derelict justice of the peace. Shortly thereafter Ruth leaves on a dreadful theatrical tour. When she returns she finds the boardinghouse closed and Jack gone. She is then befriended by Mrs. Martin, who is indignant that Ruth has been deserted by her husband. However, when Jack and Ruth are reunited and Mrs. Martin learns that the girl's missing husband is none other than her son, the dowager is mortified by the fact that her son has married a commoner and seeks to have the marriage annulled. When Ruth reforms Jack, turning him into an upstanding young man, however, Mrs. Morgan accepts the girl as her daughter-in-law and all ends happily.