Min (Marie Dressler) runs a rundown hotel on the waterfront. With the help of her boyfriend, Bill (Wallace Beery), Min brings up Nancy, who was abandoned by her mother, Bella (Marjorie Rambeau), as a baby. The couple contend with city officials who proclaim Min unfit for mothering. Over the years, Min saves diligently to send Nancy to boarding school -- and when Nancy meets a wealthy young man who proposes, Bella abruptly returns, threatening Nancy in an attempt to benefit from her good fortune.