When Eli and Nellie Pledge's father dies, the duo are left in charge of his pickle empire. The two siblings are complete opposites and Eli wants out, but since he can't leave until Nellie is married, he sets about finding a husband for his old-fashioned sister.

A travelling circus in 19th century France adopts and showcases a feral "wolf boy", who grows into adulthood only to kill the one-man band. He runs off to Paris, where he develops a jealous, overprotective crush on a prostitute, leading him to attack her client, incurring a pursuit by a determined police surgeon.