Homer C. and Sybil Fitch are set in the even tenor of their married domestic ways. Homer is a "Caspar Milquetoast" with an unhappy propensity for blundering into situations not of his making. Thinking only of her husband's happiness, Sybil thinks that she can brighten his life by providing him with a son, and thus adopts Joe, an orphan. When child-weary Homer attempts to return Joe to the orphanage, he accidentally hits Butch, another foundling, with his automobile and brings him home to recuperate, unaware that he is unharmed. Homer, who suffers daily brow beating in the Boys' Department at the store where he works, finds his peaceful home completely upset by the newcomers and orders his wife to get rid of them, having steeled his heart against showing any affection toward them. Angered by her husband's demands, Sybil decides to leave him. However, when Joe falls seriously ill with scarlet fever and the orphanage threatens to place the boy with a wealthy family, Homer finally realizes that he has come to love his two boys, and the family is reconciled.