Who has a beautiful singing voice?
A young idealistic schoolteacher named Ruth Kirke is transporting a group of war orphans from South China to Calcutta when their steamship Tollare is torpedoed and sunk in the Pacific. Along with sailor Timothy Blake, they are the only passengers to survive the enemy attack. They are picked up by the steamship Westonia and taken to San Francisco, where immigration officials inform Ruth that the orphans will be held until a $500 bond is posted for each child.
With no money of their own, Ruth and Timothy go to the home of Commodore Thomas Spencer Holliday, the wealthy owner of their sunken cargo ship, who perished during the torpedo attack. When they appeal for financial assistance for the orphans, the commodore's family refuses. Desperate to help the children, Timothy tells the commodore's family that Ruth and the commodore were married aboard the Tollare before it was attacked. With the children's future at stake, Ruth reluctantly goes along with the deception.
Ruth, Timothy, and the eight orphans move into the Holliday mansion, where they soon meet the commodore's grandson, Thomas Spencer Holliday III. When a sceptical Tom questions Ruth about how she became his grandmother, Ruth explains that her Christian mission was destroyed in a Japanese bombing raid, and that she was sent south with eight European children, entrusted with their safety. Along the way, they encountered a dying Chinese woman, and Ruth agreed to care for her child as well. Moved by her personal story and her beautiful singing voice, Tom is soon smitten with the young woman.
Ruth Kirke