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Just prior to the outbreak of World War I, in the British West African town of Akkra, English woman Myra Carson becomes involved in a scandal and is deported.  While Myra's ship is docked at Duala, in German West Africa, the war breaks out and she finds herself facing internment by the Germans.  However, Erich Von Sydow, the son of German commandant Baron Von Sydow, soon befriends Myra and tries to prevent her imprisonment by telling officials that he will personally vouch for her.  When the Baron discovers that his son has overridden his authority, he becomes angry and insists on an interrogation.

The Baron then sends Myra back to the ship, where she is to be confined.  Despite her internment, Erich manages to smuggle Myra ashore in the evenings, and romance soon flourishes.  Shortly after Erich and Myra marry, the Baron discovers a report from Akkra detailing Myra's "undesirable and immoral character" and, as punishment for his son's refusal to annul his marriage, the baron sends Erich to a jungle outpost.  Erich takes Myra with him, but finds that he must leave her with her new maid, Sheba, for weeks while he is away on business.  Bored and lonely, Myra asks to be allowed to go to Duella while he is gone, but Erich says that he cannot afford to send her there.

One day, while Erich is away on business, Myra has an affair with Lieutenant "Kurt" Kurtoff, a military mapmaker and a friend of Erich's.  When the Baron makes a surprise inspection of the jungle outpost, Myra is humiliated in front of Kurt, and Kurt asks the baron for advancement to leave.  When the Baron denies his request, Kurt resigns from the service.

Later, the Baron grants Myra's wish to leave, but before she departs, Sergeant Snyder, a British agent posing as a German officer, tries to bribe her into stealing one of Kurt's secret maps.  Myra refuses to accept the bribe, but Erich, who overheard the offer, and is still madly in love with her, tries to help her by sending her the amount of the bribe out of his own pocket.  When the Baron discovers that the map is missing, suspicion is immediately cast upon Myra, and she and Snyder are arrested.  Following Myra's arrest, Erich commits suicide and leaves a letter in which he confesses his treason and proves Myra's innocence.  As a result, the Baron has a change of heart and apologizes to Myra for trying to break her will.