The czar banishes Prince Sergei to Siberia for marrying without his consent. The wife, Varvara, dies, leaving a baby girl named Vera. Forced to flee, the prince leaves the girl in the care of Vassilly, a friend. Years later, during the Russian Civil War, the countryside is raided by Cossacks. Walter Stanford, an American soldier, saves Vera, now 18 years old, from being attacked by a Cossack chief. The Cossack forces Vera to marry him, then brutally beats her. The soldier returns, claims the girl, and marries her after the Cossack is accidentally buried alive.