Grace Bolton is the ward of the village cobbler and his wife. When she graduates from school Martin Williard, head of the school board and the town's leading merchant, offers her a position in his store. His son, Tom, returns from college and falls in love with Grace. Opposed by elders on both sides they elope. In another city Tom's funds run low and his father refuses to aid him because he married a "common clerk." There is nothing for the honeymooners to do but return home and separate. The little wife, humiliated by the return of affairs, broods for a time and when she can stand it no longer leaps from a high bridge into a river. The elder Williard and a friend, taking an evening walk, rescue the girl and when she calls for Tom. Martin Williard realizes that love is stronger than his will and brings his son to her side.