An old man named Pegwell with broken teeth waits to submit his application for the job of watchman of the wharf. It’s a cold day and he bought matches at the store nearby from a twenty-year-old girl. The man gives him a night job starting tonight from six to six and says that if he does well he can get a day shift in a month if all goes well.  

Pegwell goes back to the shop and asks the girl, Mary, where he can get a cheap place to stay. Mary's brother, Larry, angrily asks how a stranger like Pegwell got the job over him. Mary tells Larry he should go work on The Stella like the judge said and that he was lucky to escape jail when the smuggling gang got caught but that he’s still suspected for being involved. Larry tells Pegwell that if he stops by the shop at 5:30 he’ll have a bunk for him. 

Pegwell returns to the store later and Mary and him talk while they wait for Larry to arrive. She tells him that Larry’s her brother and he’s a good person but gets very easily caught up in smuggling schemes. A tall, good-looking man named Jack enters the shop and Pegwell decides to leave them alone and stands out front. Larry finds Pegwell at 5:30 and Pegwell tells Larry he’s just come home in the Stella and that Larry shouldn't take the opportunity to work on the ship for granted.

Larry takes him to a boat where three other men are living and shows him to a bunk. As he descends the ladder, something falls on his head and he tumbles into the boat and suddenly realizes he's been tricked into getting into TheStella again to serve out Larry's sentence.

The Stella goes out to sea and the three men begin to sing while Pegwell protests that he didn’t mean to join the crew and that he’s supposed to be at his new job at six, but someone punches him and tells him to join in. His bunk has bugs and is situated underneath a leak, but Larry’s woolen bag keeps him warm and he finds a folder with a note that reads “Larry; from Mary” and contains a sewing kit. Pegwell hoists a younger sailor out of a leakless bunk and claims it as his own. By the time the boat crosses the line, Pegwell has almost forgotten about his job and Larry’s trick and he slips back into old sailing habits. 

Pegwell’s bunk is not dry anymore because the ship has hit a storm off of Cape Horn, but for once he does not feel cold. The younger boy whose bunk he’d stolen is looking sick and malnourished and Pegwell gives him his jacket. When they dock, he asks where the young man is but the crew says he went overboard. All boats off the coast are still being hit by the storm and when the wind breaks the crew puts an injured man named Billy in Pegwell’s bunk. While the man takes his blanket, Pegwell holds on to Mary’s note and picks out the stitches to Larry’s name, keeping only “from Mary.” When the boat docks, the men get off quickly and board a new ship, but Pegwell stays. His captain sends him to chip cable and the crew works him cruelly and steals his bedding and sea boots, but when a man steals Mary’s embroidered note, Pegwell beats the thief and his anger grows towards Larry again. 

When Stella docks at the home port again, Pegwell sets out to buy clothing and look for Larry. In the store, he finds Mary and she tells him it was nice of him to trade places with Larry and he grins sourly but doesn’t correct her. She leads him into a snug room in the back of the shop and as they smoke together Mary tells him that Jack wanted a speedy wedding. At Pegwell's request, she embroiders Pegwell’s name in the note he carries from her in place of where Larry’s had been. Jack comes into the shop and when Pegwell leaves, Jack follows him out and asks what Larry’s been up to and tells him Mary’s brother is breaking her heart. He tells Pegwell that Larry held his watchman’s job for a week before quitting and since then two watchmen have either fallen or been thrown off the dock at night. They pass a policeman and Jack says they’re after Larry, who’s since left town. 

Pegwell is angry with Larry and offers to buy Mary’s shop at Jack's encouragement. Pegwell promises to take care of Larry if Jack marries Mary and when he sees Mary next she’s smiling and thanking him. By the end of the week, Pegwell owns the shop and Larry runs in and asks where his sister is. Pegwell remembers Jack’s words and when an officer comes into the shop, Pegwell tells him he hasn’t seen Larry. When Mary returns, she shows Pegwell her engagement ring but leaves before Larry comes down. Larry stays hidden in the cellar while Mary packs up and Pegwell continues to lie to the police that he hasn’t seen Larry. The policeman takes up a 24-hour station at the shop and Pegwell is unable to bring Larry food and can only tell him to wait. Pegwell joins the police one night for a midnight smoke and they become friendly and before sunrise the next morning Pegwell opens up his shop and sings.