Joe Selby, the handsome but shy young clerk of the village store in a little mining town, has never given a second's thought to any girl until one day he waits upon Ruth, the winsome daughter of an old prospector who has recently come to live in the mountains. In his shy and diffident manner, the young fellow pays ardent court to the girl and their romance grows. A band of moonshiners with a still far up in the mountains have been giving the revenue officers much concern. After serving a term in prison, Sid, nephew of Dan Clayton, leader of the illicit distillers, returns and in his evil way falls desperately in love with the pretty Ruth. The illegal whiskey trade goes on and, to the girl's sorrow, her father is initiated into the mysteries of moonshining. One day Sid asks Mason for the hand of his daughter, but the old man, cherishing her as his one and dearest possession, refuses to force Ruth into a marriage which he knows is distasteful to the innocent mountain lass. Beyond himself at the old miner's attitude, the degenerate Sid resolves to get even. He makes his way to the revenue officer's quarters and makes known the whereabouts of his uncle's still. It happens young Selby's duties take him to the house next door, and he overhears the betrayal. Determined his sweetheart's father and her happiness shall not be sacrificed, he runs to the moonshiner's "hideout," where he is captured by the revenue officers. After dark days in jail, his trial comes up and prominent in the courtroom is the traitor, drunk from whiskey made by his own hands. At the height of the trial Ruth leaves the room for air and overhears Sid bragging drunkenly of what he has done. After a struggle he is captured and, while Joe is freed, Clayton is led to a cell. Arm in arm, Joe and Ruth are seen crossing the mountain to a new happiness, while Ruth's father gives up his lawless occupation to live with his new son-in-law.