Two boys, Dan Woods, son of a poor widow, and Bert Ainslie, the scion of a rich one, are introduced in college. The scene opens at the tennis court on the college campus, then comes the girl, Nellie Wilson, beloved of both, but favoring the poor youth, Dan. The boys are about to leave college for vacation, and in the rush, the janitor throws a pair of tennis pumps belonging to Dan in Bert's trunk. Dan's mother, a widow, greets him proudly at the station. In contrast Bert is surrounded by all the luxuries that wealth can furnish, but this does not make, but rather seems to mar the man, for when Bert appears upon the scene, the chambermaid and all the other help rush for cover, as his hand is more free than clad. The chambermaid having escaped his clutches, rushes from the room, leaving the door of the safe open, where she has but recently placed a valuable pearl necklace of her mistress. The butler takes charge of the young man, who is much the worse for liquor and persuades him to go to bed. His confidant, the gambler, who accompanied him to the door, assumes his true role as a crook, climbs through the window and picks up various articles of value in the room (among others, the curling tongs that blacken his fingers). He then spies the safe and takes from it the string of pearls. When morning dawns, the poor maid sleepily appears, catches sight of the open safe. The alarm becomes general, but the cowardly Bert slinks out of trouble that his sober senses tell him is impending. Jealousy, however, still fans the flame in his breast and he discovers the tennis shoes belonging to his rival. He takes these shoes and throws them down near a fence that the burglar had evidently climbed over in making his escape. He returns to the house and the police and detectives arrive and the latter following the trail of the burglar, pick up the tennis shoes. The action shifts to the humble home of Dan Woods, where they are at breakfast. A plain-clothes man confronts Dan with an air that immediately alarms. His question is concerning the athletic shoes peculiarly marked that have been "planted" by the tricky Bert, so that the detectives could hardly overlook them. His arrest follows; his poor mother falls fainting to the floor. Ill news travels fast, and Dan's sweetheart comes to the little hamlet by the first train. Again the scene changes to the office of "Muntone, the great detective." The money retainer offered to secure the pearls is exciting comment in the realms of the thief catchers. Nellie, the sweetheart, visits the great detective and her importunings work mightier magic than the offers of big money. Muntone concludes to take up the case she pleads. Strangely enough, the great man does not appear as the police expert at all, but a ginseed rustic happens along in the neighboring bar, where the guilty gamblers and the astute ones are working out clues concerning the conviction of Dan Woods. He has more than one trick up his sleeve, however, and that is an inked cuff. One of the gamblers accidentally rubs his thumb against his rural neighbor's cuff, which has been carefully inked. The impress of his thumb is then transferred to the cards that the gambler is handling. Muntone palms the cards so accidentally marked, passes them through the window to his assistant on the outside, who compares it with the thumb marks on the handle of the curling-iron that was dropped the night of the robbery. They coincide; the link of evidence is complete. The gambler is arrested blackhanded. The pearls are recovered; Dan Woods is vindicated and released,