Three-Towers Hall was a boarding school for girls. For a time after Billie arrived all went well. But then the head of the school had to go on a long journey and she left the girls in charge of two teachers, sisters, who believed in severe discipline and in very, very plain food and little of it--and then there was a row!

Billie Bradley fell heir to an old homestead that was unoccupied and located far away in a lonely section of the country.

Ruth, a young girl working for the Red Cross at a hospital somewhere on the war front during WWI. After learning that her friend Tom has gone missing in Germany, she takes matters into her own hands to find her soldier friend.

As the school year draws to a close, Ruth and her friends plan a trip to Lighthouse Point. During their stay at Lighthouse Point, a girl named Nita is rescued from a sinking ship. It turns out that Nita has run away from a western ranch, and her real name is Jane Hicks. Before Ruth and her friends leave Lighthouse Point, Jane Hicks is reunited with her uncle, and the Hickses invite Ruth and her friends out to Silver Ranch on a vacation.

Helen and Tom Cameron plan an automobile trip upstream with Ruth Fielding. Soon after the friends depart, they seek shelter from a storm in an old farmhouse and are frightened by a couple of rough-looking gypsies. Ruth hears the men discussing a wealthy old woman, a valuable necklace, and how they will no longer take risks for her. Ruth wonders what it all means. Later, the chums continue on their way, but Tom's car breaks down. He goes for help, leaving Ruth and Helen alone. Some gypsies offer to help Ruth and Helen.