Captain Jean and his daughter, Hélène, live in a Sicilian fishing hamlet. Captain André persuades him to induce the villagers to invest all their savings in a project to buy new ships to meet the growing business with the mainland. Instead of investing it, André steals the money and retreats to Etna. Sandro, Hélène's sweetheart, pursues the culprit and returns the money to Captain Jean after André is killed in a battle between the two--fought while Etna erupts.