She lost her family in the Civil War and fled from Georgia to Chicago disguised as a boy. Here 18-year-old Katina Monroe finds work as "William," acting in a small theater, as she dreams of writing a brilliant drama and gaining wealth and fame as a woman in her own name. But life takes an unexpected twist when she meets crusading young minister Russell Cosgrove on a street corner and he persuades "William" to help him create a shelter for the destitute.