Originally convicted of a crime he did not commit, Chéri-Bibi was sent to a prison ship in the bathroom. Taking advantage of a mutiny on board, he underwent an cosmetic surgery undertaken by the Kanak, one of his fellow prisoners, and took the identity of the Marquis du Touchais, who found refuge on board the ship before being put to death. Back in France, he found happiness and joy in living with Cécily, the wife of the Marquis, whom he had always been secretly in love with. Alas, it soon appeared that the Marquis, whose traits he had taken from, was none other than the real perpetrator of the crime for which Chéri-Bibi was convicted.