Born in a prospector's camp, orphaned by a flood and taken care of by relatives to whom she was unwelcome, Mercy grew up dodging blows and curses with equal dexterity and indifferent success.

A young clubman, who prided himself upon his popularity, made a wager with a friend that he would marry a certain society girl. His wooing met with great success as far as the girl was concerned, but her father, a judge, did not look with favor upon the young man, so the latter induced the girl to elope. She wrote her husband-to-be, telling him to have a closed carriage at a certain corner near her home and she would fly with him.

Two boys from Labrador, Canada, visit their aunt in Westcheser, New York. Although it's in the middle of a cold winter in New York, the nephews from Labrador are used to much colder weather and think the New York winter is too warm for them, and act accordingly.