[3] As described in a film magazine,[4] Carroll (Borzage), an American sailor, is shipwrecked on the coast of Japan, and is befriended by a Japanese prince.

As Americans are banned from the country, he is sentenced to being tortured but Iku, his prosecutor, is killed.

He falls in love with Virginia Stafford and, learning that she is the fiancé of Allan Carroll III (Borzage) and remembering his ancestor's band of hate, he kidnaps Virginia, takes her to Japan and marries her according to Japanese custom.

A terrible struggle ensues in which Iku meets his death and Virginia is rescued.

In 1919 the film was reedited down to six reels with new intertitles, which changed the location of the action to the Malaysian coast, and released under state's rights basis with the title Ashes of Desire.