Mad McCara, a brutal sea captain, falsely persuades the Widow Delaney that her son, Jerry, has been killed in an accident and lures her to a South Sea island with the promise of marriage. Years pass: McCara tires of the widow and discards her; Jerry grows to manhood, making his living as a boxer. During a bout at a waterfront athletic club he knocks out an opponent, then, thinking him dead, stows away on a liner bound for the Pacific Islands. On the boat, he meets Felicity Arden, a landscape painter with whom he falls in love without declaring himself for fear of involving her in his disgrace. To avoid repatriation, he jumps ship at the island of Taohing, narrowly being saved from a killer shark by a native girl. On the island, he is reunited with his mother, who is living among the natives, and he saves Felicity from the vile advances of McCara, whom he kills in a savage fight. Jerry returns to San Francisco, intending to give himself up for the death of the fighter, only to discover that the man has recovered from the blows. With the Widow Delaney's consent, Jerry and Felicity are married.