Tom Perkins, a Chicago youth, is arrested, charged with being one of the carbarn bandits, to whom is attributed a series of bold robberies. The disgraced parents also suffer for their son's crimes, the elder Perkins being thrown out of a job, and they are forced to leave their rented cottage, on account of the bad character of their son. Perkins and his wife then go west to begin life anew. Tom, liberated from prison, goes west and becomes a bandit. He and his pal, Steve Ray, rob an express office in a general store, which is in charge of Tom's father, though the fact is unknown to Tom. Later, when he discovers that he has robbed his own father, he forces Ray to accompany him to the sheriff's office, where Tom confesses and asks that they be made to pay for their crime. In later years, when Tom is again released, he seeks out his parents, and having given proof of his reformation, obtains their blessing.