The Civil War has begun, and Mace Brewer goes to the front, leaving his young wife alone. His friend, Joe Saunders, also has to leave his aged mother and answer the call of duty to his country. The misfortunes of war claim Mace, and at night as Joe, sorely wounded, limps off the battlefield, he leaves Mace for dead. Soldiers burying the dead, discover life in Mace and he is hurried to the hospital, where the surgeons succeed in reviving him. Thinking Mace dead, Joe writes to his mother of this tragedy, and she sadly shows the letter to the wife. Joe returns. Mace's widow calls for the details of his death. After recovering from the operation it is found that Mace's mind is affected, and he is taken to an asylum for treatment. A year passes and we see Joe a sturdy blacksmith, being visited in his shop by his mother and the widow with whom he is plainly in love, but he lacks the courage to tell her so. Finally one Sunday on the way home from church, he manages to slip a note into her hand. He has asked her to place a lamp in the window that night if his answer is to be "yes." Fearfully Joe watches for that light and is overjoyed when it appears. Mary accepts him. At the close of another year, Joe and Mary are supremely happy in the possession of a baby. These two years have completely restored Mace to health and reason and he is discharged from the asylum. So he goes back to his home. Mace seeks his friend Joe. The horror of recognition almost makes a madman of Joe, and when Mary comes in and sees this man as if from the dead, the shock is so great she falls insensible upon the floor. Poor Mary must decide between them. She loves Joe twofold, for himself and also because he is the father of her child. But old fashioned ideas of honor compel her to sorrowfully place her baby in the arms of the father, and to go with her lawful husband.