To save her flirtatious daughter Bava from probable ruin, a Javanese mother dedicates the girl as a sacred dancer in the service of Buddha.  Bava's eye continues to rove, however, and when she finally runs away with Sir John Dare, a British officer stationed in Java, Ysora, the high priest, vows to avenge her insult to the god.

The fog of her husband's native Scotland so depresses Bava that they soon return to Java, where their baby is born.  After the high priest kills the child, the couple flees to Paris, and while Sir John is visiting Scotland, his restless wife visits an Apache cabaret.  Seeing the dancers whirl on the stage, Bava is seized with the desire to perform a Javanese dance, which so impresses a theatrical agent that he immediately offers her a contract.

News of Bava's budding affair with Count Romaine reaches Sir John, who returns to Paris and kills himself in her dressing room.  Bava hides his body and nonchalantly receives visitors, after which she mounts the stage for her dance.  Suddenly one of the Buddha figures seated near the rear of the stage, actually Ysora, comes to life, and Bava dies under his knife.