Mary, the beautiful daughter of an old fisherman, is secretly in love with a poor young sailor. Arthur, a rich farmer's son and heir, sees her and, falling in love with her, asks her father for Mary's hand in marriage. The old man is attracted by Arthur's riches and gives his consent. The poor girl goes to break the bad news to her lover, who decides to go to sea and endeavor to forget her. Directly Mary is married to the rich farmer's son, though needless to say it is not a love match as far as she is concerned. Soon after, there is a storm and a shipwreck on the coast. Among the corpses of the dead brought ashore is that of Mary's poor sailor. Mary is among those present and recognizes the features at once and is quite overcome with grief. This distresses her young husband so much that he loses his reason.