They dock on a small South Pacific island and meet Hilda (Helen Mack), who is performing in a small "circus", headed up by her father. Unfortunately for everyone, a down and out loser by the name of Helstrom (John Marston) is also on the island. He ends up in a drunken fight with Hilda's father and kills him. The only one who knows what happened is Hilda, and Helstrom tries to scare her into silence. When he can't persuade her to keep quiet, he decides to flee the island. 

Helstrom meets Denham and Englehorn in a bar on the island. He convinces Carl Denham and Captain Englehorn to sail off to Kong Island in pursuit of treasure. Helstrom had dealings with Denham before, so Denham is a little suspicious, but goes forward with the treasure hunt. About the time the men set sail, Hilda pleads with Denham to take her with them. He refuses, telling her that she should not be mixed up with them, that the trip could be dangerous. She has other plans and becomes a stowaway.

The adventurers reach Kong Island, but before they can set foot on the island, Helstrom convinces the crew to maroon Denham, Englehorn, and Hilda. The crew, on the other hand, decide to include Helstrom in that marooned party. The Chinese cook, Charlie (Victor Wong) joins the group of his own free will.

The tiny band of adventurers land on the shore of Kong Island, only to be greeted by the local natives and told to leave or else! The group, having nowhere else to go, turn around and find another spot on the island to land. This time they end up deep in the interior of the island. 

Denham and Hilda set off to scout out the island. They immediately come across Baby Kong, who is stuck in quicksand. After some convincing by Hilda, Denham helps Baby Kong get out of his predicament. This act of kindness is rewarded when Kong ends up being Denham's and Hilda's "guardian angel." He fends off a cave bear and dinosaurs.

While Denham and Hilda are searching for the treasure, the rest of the group get holed up in a cave when a dinosaur tries to eat them for lunch. Eventually they escape and rejoin the rest in search of the treasure. At that point Helstrom's lies are found out and Helstrom runs off towards the boat. He ends up getting eaten by a dinosaur. The captain, Charlie, and Hilda end up with the boat. Just when you think its safe, and earthquake starts to destroy the island, so the little group sets off to save themselves.

Meanwhile Denham finds the treasure (with the help of Baby Kong). That is when the earthquake hits and he and Baby Kong try to save themselves. The whole island starts to sink into the sea. Baby Kong continues to protect Denham. At the very end, Kong gets his leg caught and is going down with the island. In a last desperate act, he holds Denham up above the water until the group in the boat come to Denham's rescue.

The adventurers end up being picked up by a passing ship and presumably end up living happily ever after.

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