A struggling family lose their toilsome savings of years with the failure of a savings bank. With it all hopes are lost of leaving the sordid city behind and of building a cottage in the country. The shattered dream instills within the daughter's heart the fear of poverty, which clings to her throughout her life. Even after she has married and wealth comes to her, the constant fear haunts her. A daughter is born and surfeited by every luxury; she develops a narrow, selfish nature. Two men come into her life, an artist whose love is real, and a wealthy social butterfly with a nature narrower than hers. But the artist is not destined for worldly riches, as he paints the truth, people's souls, and he paints a sleeping pose of her because, as he tells her, "Your soul has never been awakened." The mother, prompted by the old fear, forces her to marry wealth. With the fear of poverty comes a poverty of the soul. Then through her great sorrow her soul is finally awakened to the realization that happiness can spring from humbleness and a true love's redeeming rays finds its saving way to the clouded depths of her heart.
—Moving Picture World synopsis