Eight people gather in a deserted house in the Florida Everglades: Richard Mason, an attorney; Trohelius, his black valet; Mary Bronson; a Chinese man; Samuel Lund, who is paralyzed; Otis, the butler; Mrs. Hart, the housekeeper; and Lynn Claymore, who has just inherited the house from an uncle he claims to know nothing about. Mary is kidnaped. Lynn's uncle is found to be alive, and Mason (in league with the butler and the maid) turns out to be a swindler. Lund is discovered to be the leader of the gang of swindlers; for his own ends, he has been pretending to be a cripple. The Chinese man, who is an undercover agent, arrests the crooks; and Lynn and Mary seem destined for better things.