An expose of the methods used by a police-department to extract a confession from a suspect, regardless of innocence or guilt, and the effect and consequences on a family when an innocent member breaks under the interrogation methods and confesses to a crime he did not commit.
Mary Lynde (Theda Bara) is an innocent girl who has grown up in New York's Greenwich Village. One of the artists there, Felix Benavente (Sidney Mason), uses her as model when he paints a portrait of the Madonna for a church.
During the Civil War, Rachel Hayne, a young widow, is among those "held by the enemy" when her old family home is within the lines occupied by the Northern troops.
When respectable Lloyd Norwood becomes infatuated with moll Goldie Lewis, he falls into a life of debasement, which results in his being accused of the murder of gangland henchman Joe the Swell.
Tex Benton, riding across the country, sees a turtle, catches a jack rabbit and tests out the old fable of the tortoise and the hare; when the rabbit wins, Tex vows to model his behavior on that style.
A stranger (Leo Willis) turns out to be a revenue agent and Texas' brother, Tom, turns him out. But when a gang of moonshiners captures the stranger, Texas takes matters into her own hands.