A widow and a widower are neighbors. Both have children, the widow a daughter, the widower a son. As these children are always quarreling with each other, it causes a heated discussion between the parents and one day one family moved away. A few years later the young son, now grown to manhood, has become a "good fellow" at the club, spending his money freely and having no desire to work. He receives a letter from his father saying that he must stop loafing, otherwise he will receive no more assistance. To show the other members of the club that he has grit in him, he signs a contract with them whereby he is to start out without a cent and earn $10,000 within a year. He makes a start by getting a position as bellboy in a fashionable hotel in which resides Miss Edith Perry, the owner of the motorboat "Lightning Edith," which is to compete in the race to come off that day. Through the fact that he is generally conceded to be a worthy business man, Joe Burns, an underworld leader, bribes the driver of Miss Perry's boat, as he has planned to have one of his gang bet heavily against it. The chambermaid, who overhears the plot, tells the son, who follows Burns and sees the money given. The son intervenes, knocks the crooked driver down, takes the wheel himself and brings the boat in victorious. For this be is given $500 and a position as butler in Mrs. Perry's household. He is getting along nicely until his love for Miss Perry is discovered, causing his discharge. That night he returns to the house to steal a photograph of Miss Perry, and just as he is leaving he hears a struggle coming from the next room. Upon investigating he finds Burns gagging the maid. A fight ensues, but Burns escapes into the street with the son close upon him. Calling a policeman to his assistance they trail the underworld leader to his den where the entire gang is rounded up. For this the son receives a reward which is more than the stipulated amount he is to earn. He reports at the club on the night that he is due to show his $10,000 and was telling the members and his father how he procured the money and the photograph of the girl he has fallen in love with when his father tells him that the photograph is a picture of the girl who was their neighbor years ago. Father and son hurry to the home of the Perrys where a reconciliation takes place.