Malay pirates horrify the civilized world by abducting five young British debutantes from an American ship and enslaving them. As if writing a dime novel, their captor, Rajah Sindana Raga, promotes the story be sending inflammatory reports of their treatment to the "Calcutta Times," enraging its Victorian readership. This prompts the British to make three desperate attempts to get the girls back--first, with a sea battle and a company of royal marines; second, by sending a spy, Lieutenant Seth Walsh; and third by bribing the rajah's number-two. In each case, they encounter the region's particularly cruel penchant for female slavery.