Mary Powell, daughter of the chief of police in Cranston, goes to visit her aunt in the distant city of Alden. When she arrives at her destination she discovers her aunt is not at home and on her way to the hotel where she is to spend the time until she arrives, she drops her purse. A lynx-eyed tramp picks up the purse and proceeds to fill up and make merry. When she finds that her money is gone she wires her father her predicament. He promptly wires the chief at Aden to go at once to the hotel “assist” Mary Powell and give her the best of attention. The careless operator makes “assist” read “arrest” which starts lots of things. The young chief of police is very loathe to arrest such a lovely young lady, but is forced to comply with the order to take the very best care of her. After some tribulations her father gets to Alden and relieves the young lady. The tramp is arrested before he has emptied the purse and the attentive young chief of police comes in for a share of gratitude.