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While the plot to this silent feature bears little relation to reality, it is nonetheless fascinating. E.H. Sothern plays Mr. Angelo, a respected Italian banker. He's prominent but old before his time, and his young wife, Clara (Charlotte Ivers), loves him for his character, his position and not much else. In addition, his domineering mother-in-law (Vilda Varesi) makes his life miserable. This is not a happy situation for Angelo, and when he is on his way home from a business trip to Naples, he is returning with a heavy heart. The trek leads him past Mount Vesuvius, and the volcano erupts. He is left for dead in the ensuing pandemonium, but is rescued by a doctor who makes a new man of him. Now young, handsome and totally unrecognizable -- even to his family -- he dumps his old identity and begins anew by working for the Italian government's financial department. He straightens out affairs there and along the way discovers a spy ring, lead by none other than his nasty mother-in-law. The mother-in-law ends up in the clink, and Angelo and his wife are happily reunited.