When banker Kendall fails in business, his college-educated son (Francis X. Bushman) is forced to join the Army. He works his way up to quartermaster-sergeant and falls in love with Edith Ferris (Beverly Bayne, Bushman's inamorata in real life). Since she is the ward of the post commander (Robert Cummings), he's setting his sights a bit high. On top of that, he has an enemy in Lieutenant Burkett (John Davidson). But the young Kendall proves himself worthy when his regiment is sent to quell an uprising in Nicaragua. He becomes a hero, while Burkett turns out to be a coward. This film was adapted from the novel by Ralph D. Paine which had first appeared as a four-part serial in 1914 in The Popular Magazine. The director, John W. Noble, was a former army officer, and he helped give the battle scenes an air of reality.