Wealthy contractor Michael Arnold hires civil engineer Jerry Foster to work on a dam under construction in the West. Michael hopes to enter high society and encourages his daughter, Alice, to marry Lafayette Van Renselaer, a fashionable young aristocratic. Alice is attracted to Jerry but mistakes his friendship with Kathleen O'Toole for love. Lafayette abruptly ends his affair with Kathleen when he has an opportunity to wed Alice, and accuses Jerry of trifling with Kathleen's affections.