Stairs of Sand

A girl, beautiful but heartless and ambitious, was the daughter of a poor miner and was devotedly loved by a man in her own station of life. She accepted his attentions willingly until a young engineer came along and paid court to her. She then dismissed her first suitor. Her father made a lucky strike, and they moved to the city to enjoy their wealth. This sealed the fate of the second suitor for a rich man became smitten with the girl and she accepted his advances. Perhaps she would have married him in time had it not been that she aroused the enmity of an old witch, deeply skilled in magic.

In a small town in Virginia, Faith Corey, daughter of a socially prominent family, meets and falls in love with Jerry Malone, a prizefighter, though her straitlaced mother wants her to marry Siegfried, a spellbinding "missionary reformer." Though Grandma Corey promotes the romance with the prizefighter, Mike, the fighter's hardboiled, wisecracking manager, tries to keep them apart; following a quarrel, Faith reconciles herself to marrying Siegfried, but when he invites a group of "weak sisters" to a revival meeting, he is disgraced when one accuses him of her downfall. Finally, with Mike's advice, Jerry wins back Faith and they are united with the family's blessings.

Billy Milford, Harvard graduate, goes west to seek his fortune. In Addertown he secures a position as stationmaster of the L. & R. Railroad, but is forced out because of his drinking habits. He accidentally meets Gunhild, an emigrant Norwegian girl, as she arrives in Addertown to take up her home with Jan Hagsberg, the town's saloonkeeper. Seeking revenge on the railroad, Milford joins Jim Dorsey in a scheme to hold up the road's paymaster on his way to pay the employees of the company's mine.

Vallery Grove is in love with Don Warren but her mother opposes the match because he is poor and has no social standing. Don decides to terminate his engagement to Vallery after attending a party where he meets a spoiled rich girl who is interested in him.

Following the Spanish-American War, a soldier is given the assignment of finding the leader of a band of rebels in the Philippines. In order to do this, he must romance Roma, a cabaret spy working for the rebels. This does not please the daughter of his commanding officer, whom he is romancing.

Helen Martin takes her father's place when he is too ill to carry out his duties as Sheriff, and followed by Jim Grey, tracks down Blackie Wells, notorious 'bad man,' who has shot up a town. The trail leads over prairie and woodland, ending when Helen assumes the part of a dancing girl in the Last Chance saloon and learns the hiding place of Blackie and his associates.

Hell Bent Wade is the victim of an attack in which is wife is killed and daughter kidnapped. A couple of decades later, he is a sheriff known only as the "mysterious rider," because of his nighttime prowls in search of cattle rustlers.

John Gregg and his daughter Mary, on their way to Burro Springs, a boom mining town, lose their way and stumble into "Jawbone," a dilapidated town. Here they meet Mike Hernandez, a good-looking bad man. Mary, thinking Mike a gentleman, takes a liking to him. "Cheyenne" Harry, a homely looking good man, comes to Jawbone and Mary believes him to be a weak character. He becomes fascinated with her. Gregg hires Mike Hernandez to guide him to Burro Springs, displaying his small store of gold when paying Hernandez. Later, Gregg and his party become lost in the desert, and run out of water.

When a wealthy young lady loses her inheritance, she decides to apply for work in disguise. In prim and proper working girl attire she becomes the respectable companion of a woman looking to reform her wayward nephew.

Lorenzo Carilo selects more-or-less menial jobs at which to make a living, other more "select" jobs not paying enough, and then he meets and falls in love with Vivian Forrester the daughter of a new-rich family. What's a poor boy to do? He might pose as a French Duke.

Sid Hunt and Jude Lowery are Carolina sweethearts but hired-hand Rufe Pryer also has his eyes on her. Rufe lies to Andy, Jude's brother, and a family-feud is started when Andy goes gunning after Sid. But Sid quiets the drunken Andy, and is taking him home when a shot is fired from ambush and Sid's horse comes home riderless. But he shows up unhurt, and the jealous-maddened Rufe sends him on a ruse to the big dam. Rufe sets off a dynamite explosion to catch Sid in the swirling waters but Jude is the one who is caught.