A Western rancher wins a British valet in a poker game.

In Paris in the spring of 1908, the Earl of Burnstead regretfully informs his manservant, Marmaduke Ruggles, that he has lost Ruggles in a poker game to the genial, but roughhewn millionaire Egbert "Sourdough" Floud, who, on the insistence of his dominating, society-conscious wife Effie, intends to take Ruggles to their home in Red Gap, Washington. Before they leave Paris, however, Ruggles, who is assigned to oversee his new master's cultural education, begins to fall under Egbert's egalitarian influence, getting drunk and abandoning many of his professional traditions. In Red Gap, Egbert continues to treat Ruggles as an equal. He playfully introduces Ruggles as a colonel and generates a false newspaper article that obliges Effie and her snobbish brother-in-law, Charles Belknap-Jackson, to pretend that Ruggles is an honored guest instead of a servant. When Belknap-Jackson dismisses Ruggles, he sadly packs his bags and, while waiting for the train, enters the Silver Dollar Saloon. There, Egbert and his wealthy, down-to-earth mother-in-law, "Ma" Pettingill, are outraged to learn that Belknap-Jackson fired Ruggles without their consent. A discussion of egalitarianism ensues, and when no one in the bar can remember President Abraham Lincoln's address at Gettysburg, Ruggles recites the speech in full from memory to the astonishment of the crowd. He then decides to become the first Ruggles in generations to quit being a manservant and go into business for himself. With the help of widow Prunella Judson, a local woman with whom he is smitten, and a business loan from Egbert and Ma, Ruggles begins work on his restaurant. When Effie informs Ruggles of the impending visit of the Earl of Burnstead, who wants him to return to his service, Ruggles' loyalty to the earl and to his profession causes him to hesitate. When the earl arrives and Ruggles is found missing, Prunella fears he may have jumped in the river, but his Americanization has gone too far; he shows up and declares his independence to the earl, who congratulates him. The night Ruggles' Anglo-American Grill opens, Effie, Belnap-Jackson and their society friends are among the guests. When the earl arrives with his bride, Nell Kenner, a dancer and native of Red Gap, Belnap-Jackson insults the earl for marrying beneath his class, and Ruggles throws him out. Returning to the kitchen, Ruggles fears the incident has caused his ruin, but the earl gives a speech in Ruggles' honor. The crowd then breaks into a chorus of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," and Ruggles is overjoyed to realize they are singing, not for the earl, but for him.