An aged composer named Richmond, oppressed by poverty, is still striving to write the great opera that tortures him in sleep. One bitter cold night he befriends Reita, a poor Irish girl, that he finds starving almost in the shadow of Martin's café, where Bohemians congregate. After her first pangs of hunger are alleviated she hears an old Irish air played upon the piano there, and sings out in joy, with such sweet quality of tone that Martin at once engages her to sing regularly. Richmond seeks an audience with Delano, the producer, who turns him down in bitter fashion: Delano then hears of the failure of an opera he had selected open-eyed, and banked on as a winner. In disgust he eventually drops into Martin's to drown his chagrin in liquid refreshment. At a nearby table is old Richmond, the picture of despair, with his well thumbed manuscript on the floor beside him. Reita comes, picks it up and the musician begin to play as she sings the big airs of the unpublished work. All present are stirred by the wonderful music, but none are more deeply moved than the disgruntled Delano himself. He puts business immediately in train, secures Reita and the rights of the opera. She makes an enormous hit, likewise the opera, Reita becomes the toast of the town, and old Richmond's discarded music commands a prince's ransom: and thereafter they all meet in joy for many happy days and nights about the wood fire at Martin's.
