U.S. agent Major Tom Blake is sent to Tripoli to uncover who it is in Washington that is tipping off the pirates as to what's being shipped where. A fast-moving story with lots of sabers and rapiers.

Duke Fergus falls for Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry in the Barbary Coast in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. He loses money to crooked gambler Boss Tito Morell, goes home, learns to gamble, and returns.