A carnival con man tries to pass off his daughter as heiress to a great estate.
In 1883, circus performer Professor Eustace McGargle, a master at legerdemain, and his daughter Poppy arrive in Green Meadows, where Poppy is noticed by Billy Farnsworth, the mayor's son. In town, Eustace purloins as much money out of the locals as he can by peddling the mock panacea "Purple Frog Sarsaparilla," and promoting gambling at his circus concession, until the mayor arrives, whereupon Eustace denounces gambling. Eustace wins the favor of the Countess DePuizzi, formerly local girl Maggi Tubbs, who married a count and inherited the town's wealthy Putnam estate. Although Billy is enamored of the actress Poppy, she is snubbed by Billy's girl friend and his parents as a vagabond. Eustace learns that Katie Putnam ran away to the circus twenty years before and gave birth to a daughter, who, if found, would be the rightful heir to the Putnam fortune. Hoping to win the estate for Poppy, Eustace forges a marriage certificate between himself and Katie and presents it to the mayor. As Billy proposes to Poppy, Sarah Tucker, who has befriended Poppy, informs her that the estate is hers, and a public reception is given in Poppy's honor. After she is insulted by the countess' haughty society friends, however, Poppy breaks her engagement with Billy. Meanwhile, crooked attorney E. G. Whiffen, who had promised to help Eustace win the Putnam fortune, proposes to the countess, assuring her that Poppy is a fraud. As the mayor announces Poppy's inheritance and marriage, unaware that Poppy broke her engagement, Whiffen accuses Eustace of forgery, and he is run out of town. While Poppy hides in Sarah's house, Billy tells Poppy he still wants to marry her. Sarah then finds a miniature of herself in Poppy's wardrobe and remembers exchanging pictures with Katie Putnam and becomes convinced that Poppy is the real heir. As Whiffen and the countess announce their marriage, the mayor awards the estate to Poppy. Eustace then tells Poppy he found her when she was three years old, an orphan of the circus. Planning to resume his circus tour without his "daughter," Eustace steals the house cigars and exits, leaving Poppy to marry Billy.
