'Hiram Jenkins, a shiftless insurance broker, has lost his position through drink and is deeply in debt to one Brinker, a wealthy money lender. His family consists of a daughter, Katinka, who is the offspring of a former wife; her half-sister Olivia, a rather frail girl, for whom Katinka has an unselfish regard, and the second wife, Emily, a commonplace, rather vulgar, and shrewish woman. Boarding with the family is a poor young student, Eric Hargreaves, a patient and noble-hearted young fellow, who has followed the decadent fortunes of this family solely because of his love for Katinka.The latter has endeavoured in many ways to secure honest employment, but on account of her beauty finds herself subjected to constant annoyance and has returned to her humble home in despair.
'She has been followed by Albert Lindsey, a clubman, who has conceived an infatuation for her. He offers his love and friendship to Katinka, tells her he is unhappily married, but is spurned by her. Before leaving the room, however, he gives her his card and beseeches her if she ever needs help to call upon him. Humiliated over this adventure, yet impatient with her condition and surroundings, she is interrupted at this juncture by Eric, to whom she relates this incident, and he then offers her his hand in marriage. She gently refuses him by saying he is too poor and she is too selfish and unworthy, and the arrival of her father, who is radiant with a plan for the betterment of the family fortunes, puts a quietus to Katinka's fears. At table he reveals his scheme, which is to marry the heroine to Brinker, whom she despises. The latter's appearance and proposal, his rejection by Katinka, the sudden illness and apparent wants of her sister, Olivia, her desire to aid her, and her sudden resolution to seek out Albert Lindsey and her departure, in the face of Eric's reproaches, to the clubman's apartments, furnish the incidents to the first act.
'The sequent episodes rapidly depict the rehabilitation of the Jenkinses, and the fortunes of Katinka especially. The family is now discovered in modest yet comfortable circumstances, and the insurance broker is supposed to have re-established himself in business, but is secretly aided by Katinka. Olivia has regained her health, and is engaged to be married to John Strong, a purist and agent of the Society for the Suppression of Vice. Eric continues to live with the family in the hope of finding Katinka, who has disappeared completely, and whose name is tabooed by Mrs. Jenkins. In reality, however, she has drifted to the music hall stage, and established a certain reputation by singing risque songs. Brinker's confirmed passion and constant quest for Katinka, their accidental meeting at the home of her father, her humiliation at the exposure of her life by her steopmother before the guests, and the rejection of her sisterly love by the horrified Olivia, for whom she has sacrificed everything, and her broken-hearted departure are described in action.
'The scene is now shifted and finds Lindsey in the power of the money lender, and at a supper given in Katinka's magnificent apartments he receives a message from his wife, which tells him that his liaison with Katinka is known to her; that his defalcation of trust funds has been discovered, and that he must flee for the sake of his children. He pleads to Brinker for financial help, but is refused and is told his day is over and that he is his rival for the actress's affections. He turns to her for sympathy, but is repulsed. At this dinner is also seen John Strong, the moralist and reformer, who has requested a personal interview with this much-talked-about woman. His weakness and hypocrisy revealed by the strategic love-making of the heroine so disgust her with the world that she attempts to end the struggle, but is saved by Eric, whose patience and noble love outwit the old broker, who tempts her with jewels, a princely settlement, and marriage. The declaration of war with Spain has aroused the patriotism of the youth of the country, and Eric has enlisted. He points the better way to Katinka, and she drifts away as a nurse upon the field of battle.'
