Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines

Champion college swimmer and summer lifeguard Ken Holmes saves Joan Stanton from drowning. They are sweethearts until a misunderstanding causes Joan to cast off Ken for his chief competitor, Herb Darrow. Joan promises Herb she will wear his fraternity pin if he wins the big swimming race at the hotel the next day. Despondent over his loss, Ken decides not to enter the race; later, he reconsiders when he learns that Joan is to wear Herb's pin if Herb wins. Ken wins the race and resolves his misunderstanding with Joan.

Even though he disapproves of the harshness with which his father, the Colonel, treats his employees, Wayne Craighill joins the old man's mining business. Adding to the strain between father and son, Wayne soon falls in love with Jean, the daughter of a small mine owner whom the Colonel wants to put out of business.

Because Reggie is prone to drink, father severely scores him, and his patience reaches a climax when he is presented with a bill for damages Reggie has inflicted on a poor, inoffensive restaurant.

To receive the $5,000 promised in her Uncle Stephen's will, Dulcie Culpepper must live with her Uncle John in New York for six months so that her father, a Confederate colonel, will be reconciled with his brother whose marriage to a Northern woman long ago caused a breach.

Mabel, her father and Mr. Tra La La, a suitor, much to her disgust, for her hand, take a trip on the coast steamer, "Harvard." Mr. Short, his rival, follows them. He, with the connivance of the ship's captain, gives Mr. Tra La La a most strenuous and ludicrous trip.

Advantage was taken of the fact that a floral parade was being held at Pasadena, Cal. in which the Keystone car was entered and won second prize, to produce a comedy film around the incident. Fred Mace and Mabel Normand are invited to take part in the parade, and Mack Sennett plans to keep her away and take her place Accordingly Mabel is locked up in her dressing room. But she escapes after considerable difficulty. She rushes to the line of march and makes frantic and amusing efforts to catch the Keystone automobile while the two sleuths attempt to dodge her. Mabel gets into difficulties with the police who are endeavoring to maintain order, and is championed by Ford Sterling, who is among the spectators.

Hubby is out of work, and wifey is working as a stenographer, posing as a single woman, in an employment agency. The boss is in love with the pretty typist. He tells her he wants a man right away, and she telephones her husband to come down. He gets the job, which is that of porter. While hubby sweeps the floors and cleans the cuspidors, the boss is holding wifey's hand in the private office. Another suitor, who, also, does not know the stenographer is married, tries to see her and is kicked out by the boss. He tells his troubles to the porter, and then rushes off to tell the boss's wife, for revenge. Hubby listens at the door and is caught by the boss, who tips him to stop spying. The boss's wife, a two-hundred-pounder, arrives just as hubby has gotten up his courage to heat up the boss, and a lively scrimmage ensues.

Eva and Blanche are inseparable sisters living with a maiden aunt. But Eva marries a suitor named John, to Blanche’s great dismay, and starts married life in a nearby apartment. Blanche lives with the newlyweds for a while, but her constant presence soon irritates the bridegroom. Feeling unwanted, Blanche returns to her aunt’s home despite Eva’s entreaties. Later, when Eva gives birth to a child, the sisters are reconciled.

Brown is troubled with an over-abundance of affection, and his wife and mother-in-law convince him of their displeasure in many ways. Brown has a friend who has never met Brown's folks, and becomes acquainted with Mrs. Brown while she is with her mother. He invites them for an automobile ride and manages to start up the automobile as soon as Mrs. Brown has seated herself, leaving her mother behind. That worthy lady, however, runs after the machine and refuses to get lost. The friend has sent word to Brown to meet him at a restaurant, and Brown has a lot of nice champagne iced and awaits his guests. He is thunderstruck when his wife walks in, soon followed by his mother-in-law, who sit down to enjoy his hospitality.

You would think that the death of his wife through his dissipation and neglect would have brought Jack Moreland to his senses. Instead he is more dissipated, and deserts his child, Clara, who is taken by her uncle, Harold Moreland, and brought up in ignorance of her father's existence.

Just previous to his departure for South Africa and the Boer War, Gordon Frazier, a young officer in the English Army, bids an affectionate farewell to his fiancée, Gladys Mayford. In Africa, engaged in battle, Gordon is rescued from death by a young soldier, with whom he formed a slight acquaintance.

During Nick Austin's imprisonment, his wife passes away. Before she dies, she writes a note to her husband, asking him to put her little girl in the care of an orphan asylum. Mrs. Downes, while bringing some of her dead daughter's clothes to the asylum, takes a fancy to Nina Austin and adopts her.

Like his father before him, Ralph is admitted to the Graduate Club upon completing his studies at the university. He is presented with a commemorative stein to mark the occasion. Ralph meets an artist’s model, marries her over his father’s objections, and is disowned by the old man. Eventually, he becomes a drunkard and deserts his wife and their baby, who is taken in by Ralph’s father when the young mother dies. The grandson is raised with the same advantages as his father, graduates from the same university, and is admitted to the same club. During the festivities, Ralph stumbles by the club, is seen through the window by his son and his friends, and is brought inside. He attempts to drink from his old stein, but is shoved aside by the boy, who does not know him. The old man enters and recognizes Ralph. All three are reconciled as Ralph dies.

An American agent exchanges places in prison with a condemned British officer and brother of a woman he greatly admires and goes to the gallows.

After being orphaned and rejected by her reluctant relatives, Aunt Martha and Judge Trent, Sylvia Lacey is sent to live at a Maine farm managed by a kind man named Thinkright. While there, she becomes captivated by a deserted, shuttered Tide Mill, believing only love can "open its shutters." Sylvia eventually discovers a passion for painting and falls in love with John Dunham, the Judge’s law partner. Though she initially believes John is engaged to her friend Edna, he eventually confesses his love for her. In the end, John surprises Sylvia by revealing he has purchased the Tide Mill and converted it into a professional art studio for her, fulfilling her metaphor that love would finally open the mill's shutters.

Against the wishes of Cecelia, his wife, the Reverend Eric Norton leaves his position in a fashionable New York congregation to preach in a poor mining town.

When her husband dies and leaves her penniless, Mrs. Lawrence Evringham moves in with her wealthy but grim father-in-law and schemes to marry Eloise, her daughter, to the rich Dr. Ballard.

While working his way through college, Paul Potter acquires a flock of wealthy friends who encourage him to give up his hometown fiancée, Sylvia Castle, for Muriel Evers, a flirtatious married woman. After Sylvia releases Paul, and Muriel's husband divorces her for infidelity, Paul and Muriel marry. Meanwhile, when Sylvia's father dies after being ruined in the stock market, she goes from one job to another in the city until she tries acting in a stock company. There she befriends Henry Leamington, an alcoholic leading man, who, as he tutors her, falls in love and stops drinking because of her. When Paul discovers Muriel's unfaithfulness, he renews his acquaintance with Sylvia, who still loves him.

Lelia Crofton, a Louisiana belle of the 1860s, loves Burleigh Mavor. By chance, she sees one of her father's black stablemen making love to a neighbor's maid, whom she supposed was white. The incident shocks Lelia and leaves a great impression upon her. When she rejects suitor Steve Daubeney, he threatens to expose a damaging secret about her mother, whom she has never met. Remembering the incident with the neighbor's maid, Lelia worries that her mother might be black, and when Daubeney learns of her fears, he leads her to believe that they are well-founded.

After a stirring performance, Cleo Martell, a renowned stage actress, is visited in her dressing room by Gordon Trent, a too ardent admirer. When Cleo's husband enters, a fight ensues, and Trent kills his rival in the struggle. Jack Stanley arrives on the scene to help but is accused of the murder by Cleo and is sent off to prison. The opportunistic Trent marries Jack's rich fiancée Helen Forde, who believes that her former lover is guilty of unfaithfulness. Jealous of the arrangement, Cleo eventually tells Helen the truth about the killing, causing Betty, Helen's daughter, to cry over her mother's unhappiness. Moved by the girl's tears, Cleo joins forces with Helen against Trent, and the two women go West where Jack, escaped from prison, works as a cowboy.