While on leave in Paris during the World War, Pierre Dumont ( Richard Barthelmess ), an intrepid soldier, falls in love with Yvonne ( Marian Nixon ), the sister of Paul Gilbert ( Robert Frazer ), his comrade-in-arms. Forced to return to the lines, Pierre is tormented with desire for the girl, and during a lull in the fighting, he returns to Paris, where he and Yvonne are married. Pierre is later stricken by conscience and returns to his regiment; court-martialed as a deserter, he is placed before a firing squad. After the war, Yvonne is forced by her parents into a betrothal with a man she does not love; Pierre (whose comrades did not have the heart to kill him) returns to Paris and is reunited with Yvonne, whose father goes to Army Headquarters to report Pierre. His commandant, however, swayed by Paul's tender recital of the love between Pierre and Yvonne, declares Pierre to be officially dead, clearing the way for the couple's happiness.