The impoverished Harlow family of New England is forced to take in summer boarders. Teenage niece Tressie welcomes the change and promptly falls in love with wealthy young guest Norman Minot. Although Norman returns Tressie's affection, he is driven away by a fortune-hunting mother who wants him to marry her daughter. Robert Kitteridge, a scheming artist friend of Norman's, takes Tressie on a sailboat outing, during which they narrowly escape death when their boat is rammed by a steamship. After being put ashore the next morning in Boston, Massachusetts, Robert takes Tressie to his studio and attempts to seduce her, but his former lover, athletic vaudevillian Dolly Demere, intervenes and gives him a sound beating. Norman arrives at the studio to take Tressie home, and announces their engagement soon after.