Puppets of Fate: Gabriel Palombra, a Venetian Punchinello Street show operator decides to move to America leaving his wife, Sorrentina, behind, with a promise to send for her. In the United States, disillusioned, he takes a job as porter in a barbershop, but when he is rewarded for returning a lost pocketbook, manicurist "Babe" Reynolds persuades him to bet on a winning horse. Under her influence he rises to wealth. Meanwhile, Sorrentina arrives in New York and takes work as a flower girl.