The death of her mother leaves 18-year-old Mary Ellen Martin alone to care for her eight brothers and sisters. Leaving the farm for the city, Mary Ellen finds that no landlord will have children. She finally uses deception and gets the children into an apartment through a dumbwaiter, thereby attracting the sympathetic attention of young Dr. Randall. It develops that the building houses a number of underworld types; but the children, who by now have been discovered by the landlady, are suspected of a series of burglaries. Luckily, the Martin brood is instrumental in capturing the culprits, the landlady changes her opinion of children, and Mary Ellen marries Dr. Randall.