Five young men meet at the home of Thomas Wynn and propose that they shall meet again there five years from that date at nine o'clock in the evening if they are alive. The years pass and the appointed day is at hand. Only three of the five arrive on time. A letter is received from the fourth, who is dying from a bullet wound in a Bombay hospital. The three friends drink a toast to John Gaunt, the fifth and last man, "wherever he may be." Then Gaunt appears in tattered clothing and tells a strange story. For three years he had buried himself in the wilds of Central America, in search of gold. He became lost in the jungle. He was captured by a mad scientist, who showed Gaunt a beautiful maiden imprisoned in a cage. The girl was classified by the scientist as one of his "specimens." Gaunt tells a startling story of his hardships, of thrilling adventures and of his escape. He says that on the Coast settlement he was believed to be insane, and asks his friends to go with him to the rescue of the white girl imprisoned in jungle wilds. They go to the rescue and find the girl just in time to save her from death. Gaunt has learned to love the girl and on the homeward journey asks her for her hand in marriage.