Ming Toy is on the auction block in China. She is saved by Billy and taken to San Francisco by Lo Sang Kee. To save her from deportation she is sold to Charlie Yong, the Chop Suey King. Billy kidnaps her with plans of marriage.
Johnny Mack Brown stars as Paul, who wants nothing more out of life than to take charge of a lighthouse. Falling in love with Sally (Mary Nolan), Paul talks her into sharing his life as a lighthouse keeper. Evidently staring into the beacon once too often, Paul goes blind, and it's quite a chore for footloose Sally to remain faithful. Making matters worse is the arrival of a double-dyed villain (Robert Ellis) who intends to "have his way" with the long-suffering heroine.
Having spent several wasted months in a Shanghai opium dem, former prostitute Cassie Cook yearns to start her life afresh. Likewise, ex-convict Badlands McKinney also wants to clean up his act.
Jennie Blake, a schoolteacher from the city, comes between Paul Whalen and Jim Payne, fishing partners in the seaport town of Rocky Point, and is unable to decide which one she loves until Jim loses his temper and is beaten in a fight by Paul.