Ahmed, el hijo del jeque, está enamorado de una bailarina llamada Yasmin cuyo padre es el jefe de una banda de saltimbanquis. Pero Yasmin está prometida con el villano Moor, así que los encuentros entre los amantes deben ser secretos. Un día que Yasmin desaparece, el colérico Ahmed cree que la chica le ha traicionado, pero lo que ha sucedido en realidad es que la han secuestrado.
Gervas Carew's wife, Elinor, has deserted him while he was fighting for France, for Lord Clyde Geraldine, a cad of the first order, but Elinor, in turn is cast off when Lord Geraldine turns his attention to an Irish lass, Marny. Marny has no idea of Geraldine's past nor his brutal nature.
Barry Craven meets former sweetheart Gillian Locke, who is visiting India with her father. Craven's love for Gillian is revived, but he already has a wife, Lolaire, a native. In a jealous rage, Lolaire kills herself, freeing Craven, who returns to England and marries Gillian. His Indian servant, Kunwar Singh, casts a spell on Craven, causing him to leave Gillian and to go into the Algerian desert. There he joins Said, an old university friend who is the son of an Algerian sheik. Gillian follows, the servant is killed, and with him dies the spell, "The Shadow of the East."
