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In Holland a Royalist jails the ruler's son to obtain the secret of black tulips.

Dries, Manus and Ton are returning from conscription service. 'Aunt' Piet tries to break Dries' relationship with Greet, so her son Leendert can take her.

A rich woman thwarts a pottery manufacturer's plans by exposing his daughter-in-law's past.

A Cockney greengrocer helps a revolutionary win a reactionary's daughter.

A girl refuses to marry either her illegal husband or a widower with a family.

A captain saves a kidnapped magnate from a nursing home run by foreign agents.

Ruth Herwood adopts Mary, the daughter of Jones, a drunken cobbler, whom she sends to Australia. When Jones returns, he opens a tavern with Palmyra, a dancer, who is connected to Ling Soo, the keeper of an opium den. Palmyra demands that Jones blackmail Ruth to force the beautiful Mary to work in the tavern. After meeting Jones, the desperate and nervous Ruth serves him a poisoned drink.

Three sailors, known in the working-class quarter De Jordaan as Dries De Dolle (Crazy Dries), Manus De Schele (Cross-eyed Manus) and Toon De Blauwe (Blue Toon), return to Amsterdam. Dries will see his girlfriend Greet, the owner of a small laundry. Manus hopes against hope that his girl Jans has been faithful to him. Toon's homecoming is dismal because his wealthy father rejects him on account of his dissolute life. During the absence of Dries, Greet has been courted unsuccessfully by Leendert, the pampered pet of his mother known as Auntie Piet, who runs the local pub. Piet browbeats her husband Gerrit, treats her poor relation Doortje as a drudge and idolizes her wastrel son. Determined that Leendert will marry Greet, Piet whispers in the ear of Betje that Greet is "indecent". However, when Betje tells her son Dries, he will not believe such gossip. In the pub one evening, when Leendert importunes Greet, Dries knocks him down. In the ensuing fight a knife is drawn. Policemen intervene and Dries is taken to gaol. Making use of the street-singers Na Druppel and De Mop, Piet spreads the rumor that Greet has been seen dancing with many men. When Dries is released, he asks Greet whether the story is true. She admits that she went to the dance-hall, but is given no chance to explain why. Disillusioned, Dries tells Manus and Toon that he intends to enlist as a colonial soldier. His comrades, equally unhappy in Amsterdam - Manus because of the way Jans treats him, Toon because he cannot find work - agree to join up at the same time. In a melancholy frame of mind the three mates leave for the Dutch East Indies, where they spend the following six years. When their term of service expires, the young men set off for Holland and home. Only two return, as Toon dies on the ship, a victim of his alcoholism and the tropical climate. Greet eagerly awaits the arrival of Dries. He has a surprise for her, namely the two half-blood children he has fathered. Greet has a similar surprise for him, namely that she is a widow and a mother. Nevertheless, their reunion is soon followed by an exuberant wedding.

A poor fisherman's wife sends the remaining family members, her two sons, out to sea on a boat that has seen better days.

In Venice an artist has an affair with a Countess but returns to his model.

Janus Rechtsom, nicknamed De Mottige (The Pock-Marked), is a sturdy, honest seaman. He does his duty, drinks perhaps a drop too much, but has a heart of gold that belongs to Lena Doorn, the girl next-door. Lena, an orphan, spends much time with father Gijs and son Janus Rechtsom. She is now a governess looking after two children. Although engaged to Janus, she listens gladly to the flattery of Frans van Klarenberghe who, although of good family, is a rake for whom no woman is sacred. Frans tells Lena that she is far too good to marry a pock-marked sailor and that she was born to be a lady. Home on leave, Janus is upset when he sees Lena and Frans in the park. Gijs Rechtsom warns Lena that Frans is only playing with her and will never make her his wife. When she hears this from Frans himself, she leaves him in disgust and realizes that she can be happy as the wife of a good man like Janus. Their wedding is celebrated. Lena earns some extra money with a grocery shop. All the people in the alley, including the old-clothes man Nathan, rejoice in the happiness of Janus, Lena and their baby. The time comes for Janus to go to sea again, leaving Lena and the child in the care of his father. In the meantime Van Klarenberghe has discovered Lena's whereabouts and he seduces the lonely young woman into coming to live with him. Lena's life becomes a whirl of excitement, only disturbed when she thinks of Janus. A telegram arrives saying that Janus is coming home. Lena's birthday is being celebrated and at the party she is the gayest of all until Janus arrives and disturbs the festivities. Deeply disappointed, Janus goes to sea again. Drink becomes his only solace. Van Klarenbergh decides that it is time for him to make a good marriage and that Lena must disappear from his life. His friend Duvion tries to buy her off, but when Lena finally sees how Frans has played with her, she leaves his house, taking nothing of his with her. She will try to earn a living for herself and her little daughter. Years go by. Lena is poor and sick. In the evenings her daughter goes from cafe to cafe selling flowers. Janus, almost ruined by his addiction to alcohol, is told by a fortune-teller that he will soon see his wife and child again. When a little girl in the public-house begs him to go to see her sick mother, there follows a painful meeting between Janus and Lena. Lena is doomed to die, but when she does she is happy, knowing that she is leaving her child in good hands.

Tells the love tragedy of the young and insecure detective Joz, who, on the verge of getting married to Maryam, is assigned the high profile case of a murdered prostitute. His relationship is threatened when, as part of the investigation, he meets the alluring Carmen, a beautiful, free-spirited and ambitious young woman. Unable to resist her, he puts his entire future at stake. Setting all principles aside Joz becomes the one person he doesn't want to be...

A blind Orthodox Jew is saved by a gentile doctor but disowns his eldest daughter for loving that man.Since she was the family breadwinner, the result of the father's stubbornness is that he and the younger daughter sink into poverty.

A young woman is neglected by her husband, who devotes too much time to his business affairs. When he brings a friend to stay at their home, the housekeeper warns him of the danger of the situation by relating the legend of Castle Arco. It happened three hundred years ago that the owner of the castle, ever occupied with his studies, always left his wife alone. A young man who was to paint her portrait gained her affection. Feeling that his honor had been betrayed, the husband took a terrible revenge. It is said that a headless man lies somewhere in a dungeon beneath the ruins of the castle. The story is proved to be true when the married couple's little child falls through the rotting floor of the cellar and, after three centuries, the remains of the body of the headless man are found.

A usurer cancels a woman's debt in return for wresting a financial secret from a minister's wife.

A cabinet maker finds a document written in Latin in an old desk and, being unable to decipher it, he secures a translation from his solicitor. The latter's wife is an extravagant woman, whose cupidity is aroused by the description in the document of the location of the hidden wealth. She declares her intention of forestalling the humble cabinet maker. As her husband is averse to such a step, she goes alone and arrives at the castle ruins in time to see the cottager unearth the jewels. She grapples with him. Her husband has followed her and, rushing to the rescue of his wife, he fells the other man to the ground. When the cabinet maker recovers, the jewels have gone, while his memory is partially destroyed. Time passes, and in a distant town the cabinet maker is called in to a large mansion to mend a broken lock. In the cupboard he discovers the vase which contained the jewels. Feverishly he searches for and finds the document. At this moment the solicitor and his wife enter, the police are called, and the cabinet maker is hurried off to a criminal asylum. With the aid of his wife, the poor man escapes and makes plans to regain the treasure. The thieves take fright, and seek to escape to America, but the boat on which they travel catches fire. On a raft in mid-ocean the solicitor confesses to his crime. He and his wife drown. Thereafter the treasure is restored to its rightful owner, the cabinet maker.

The secret from the title is the lost recipe for shiny Delft pottery, that Jan Vogel is desperately trying to rediscover. For his attempts he needs platinum, but the funds run out because the factory owner Van Haaften has lost his money in stock-speculations. Luckily for Jan, he finds a farewell letter in the park, including a large sum of money. Meanwhile, the owner's son Leo confesses his love for Jan's daughter Annie, but Van Haaften forbids their marriage. Because of Jan's nephew Willem Berg's ongoing spying attempts to gain knowledge of the secret recipe, Jan buys Van Haaften a gun to defend himself against the villain. One night, as Willem has secretly entered the factory, Van Haaften enters his office to find a letter from a friend with a sum of money, that is not nearly large enough to cover his losses. He writes a suicide note and shoots himself, after which Willem enters the office and steals the money and the note. When, on the following morning, Jan has finally succeeded in rediscovering the recipe and goes to show the result to Van Haaften, he finds him dead. With all circumstances against him, he is thrown in prison, but he manages to slip his daughter Lilly the just-discovered recipe. While Willem's attempts to gain hold of the recipe get more and more violent, Lilly tries to gather evidence of her father's innocence. When she has finally succeeded, she sends off a letter to her sister Annie, who by now is guarding the recipe. With the recipe she goes on her way to Lilly, but is chased by Willem...

The young poacher Hendrik van Norden has seriously wounded a game-keeper, who has not recognized him. However, there was one witness to Hendrik's misstep, the old sea captain Van Oort, but for the sake of Hendrik's old mother he promises to keep silent. Five years later Hendrik has become a lighthouse-keeper and is courting Annie, the housekeeper of the miser Van der Meulen. Van Oort, one of the miser's few friends, is also trying to win Annie's affections - in vain. One evening, when he sees Annie and Hendrik embracing, Van Oort, in an access of jealousy, reminds Hendrik of what he knows about his past as a poacher.