A young wife is so absorbed in knitting her husband a vest for his birthday that she forgets to keep an eye on their two-year-old child who creeps out on the porch, and rolling himself up in a rug, falls asleep. The carpet cleaner's wagon comes to get a bundle of carpets left on the porch to be called for. By mistake, the baby in the rug is also loaded into the van. He is jolted out. however, still rolled up in the drugget, and barely escapes being run over by an automobile. Struggling free, the baby gains the sidewalk, where he is met by a company of little boys marching. They command the baby to join their ranks, and when he demurs, the leader, who believes in compulsory military service, spanks him with his gun and constrains him to fall in behind. Meanwhile, the father and mother are wildly seeking their lost child. As the line of tiny soldiers straggles by, they recognize their hopeful bringing up the rear.