The adopted Irish daughter of the Rosensteins, Second Avenue pawnshop owners, Rose is much sought after by Tim McCarthy, a wealthy Irish contractor many years her senior. Meanwhile, Nat, her adopted brother, is accused of stealing from his firm and is arrested and put in jail; Rosenstein, heartbroken, becomes seriously ill.

Jennie Blake, a schoolteacher from the city, comes between Paul Whalen and Jim Payne, fishing partners in the seaport town of Rocky Point, and is unable to decide which one she loves until Jim loses his temper and is beaten in a fight by Paul.