When Elsie Taylor drifts to Greenwich Village from upstate New York, her vitality soon wins her a sophisticated circle of friends. But she also becomes the obsession of a failed inventor and nightwatchman, who would protect her from the corruption he sees everywhere around him.

When Elsie Taylor drifts to Greenwich Village from upstate New York, her vitality soon wins her a sophisticated circle of friends. But she also becomes the obsession of a failed inventor and nightwatchman, who would protect her from the corruption he sees everywhere around him.