Walter poses as a detective to impress his girlfriend and ends up having to fend off thieves who try to steal her father's valuable diamond, kept on board his houseboat.
Walter comes home drunk from a fancy dress ball he has attended as a convict. His father announces that he has been a wastrel long enough and throws him out. After sleeping it off in the bushes, he learns that a convict has escaped and the cops are after Walter.
A wealthy bloater magnate looks for his lost son. His daughter sees a ragged man (Walter) at a construction site with the family birthmark and brings him home. Soon he finds himself in a strange dynamite duel with an excitable Frenchman.