After Henry Dawson and Robert Harwell quarrel at Elaine Huntington's garden party, Henry disappears and Robert is accused of murder. Although Robert is found guilty and sentenced to death, Elaine, who loves him, believes he is innocent and does everything in her power to help him. Robert did not kill Henry, but had merely wagered that he could get himself convicted of murder on circumstantial evidence. As the execution date approaches, Henry wires Robert that he is sailing for America, but en route, his steamer is torpedoed. Elaine asks Robert's supposed friend Richard Shields for papers outlining the wager, but because she refuses to marry him, he burns the documents. As Robert is being led to the electric chair, Henry appears, having been rescued from the U-boat attack, and Robert's life is spared.