Mrs. Lirriper keeps a boarding house. Major Jackman, dissatisfied with Mrs. Wozenham's, further down the street, comes to live at Mrs. Lirriper's and becomes the "star" boarder. Mr. Edson and his young wife take rooms at Mrs. Lirriper's. They are a young couple, not long married, and appear to be devoted to each other, though the Major has a sort of half-defined prejudice against Edson. One day in the midst of their happiness, Edson is called suddenly away on important business. He takes an affectionate farewell of his wife, but the days become weeks and the weeks months, and nothing is heard from him. Mrs. Edson grows pale and anxious. At last one day a letter comes. The Major and Mrs. Lirriper, who have long suspected that something is wrong, leave the letter at her door, and she reads it. It tells her that she has been deceived and deserted; that her marriage was a sham one. She falls in a faint, and is revived by Mrs. Lirriper, That night, driven to despair, Mrs. Edson goes out and wanders down to the river, intending to drown herself. She is prevented by Mrs. Lirriper, who comforts her with motherly love. A baby boy is born to Mrs. Edson, but her strength has been overtaxed and she dies. With her last breath, she commends the child to Mrs. Lirriper and the Major, who take it from her as a sacred charge, and with a smile on her lips, she dies.