Dinty O'Sullivan (Wesley Barry) is the son of poor Irish immigrants. His father was killed the day he and his mother arrived in the U.S. so he supports his sick mother by working as a newsboy. He goes on to form a syndicate of newsboys and his 12-year-old ambitions are only temporarily damped by the death of his mother. Meanwhile, after his son is sentenced to death, an opium smuggler seeks vengeance on Judge Whitely (J. Barney Sherry) by kidnapping his daughter. Through his fellow newsboys, Dinty finds out about this plot and rescues the girl. As a result, the judge takes the resourceful boy into his home.