He is just the kind of a young man you would expect a lot of girls to love, but at this ball we see him dividing his attentions between two. They both seem to adore him, but finally, after a most diplomatic maneuver, he gets a cozy corner with one and, to her surprise and delight, places a ring on her finger. The other girl sees the ring later, and resignedly congratulates both. Yes, she even attends the wedding, but one easily sees that she would not mind changing places with the bride. A few years now pass. We see the erstwhile bride, now the mother of a pretty little girl, at home. But all has not been as happy as the wedding bells, for the mother's frail frame is being racked by coughs at frequent intervals; aye, it is that hacking, hollow cough which one immediately recognizes as the accompaniment of the great white plague. The father is distracted, but there is no recall from its grip, and we soon see the young mother abed; but before she closes her eyes she places the hand of her husband in that of her rival of former days, and admonishes the latter to care for her child. Then she sinks back, gone to her Maker. The man has followed the wish with no qualms of conscience, for he likes his second wife well and all would be happy but for the fact that the child continually asks for her mother, talks of her, wants her, and is herself her living image. This makes it hard for the stepmother, who finally, unable to endure it, gets to hate the little one; and one day in a fit of passion she chokes the little one savagely. The child is old enough to understand, and writes a note, telling of the cruelty, and prepares to leave the shelter of her father's roof. But before she can do so, a dizziness overpowers her, she feels ill, and falls in a swoon. It is smallpox. We now see her in bed, a doctor and nurse in attendance. The note she has written, however, has brought the stepmother to a great realization, and the mother instinct in every woman asserts itself to such an extent that she defies contagion to nurse the child through her illness. Her sacrifice is rewarded, the little girl recovers, and with the father, the household is once again bathed in sunshine and happiness.