Bill is chucked out of the recruiting office and feels that there is no place for him in a disjointed universe. Wandering down the street, he sees a man approach another and slip him a wad of bills after making some strange passes in the air. "Good enough to try, anyway !" says Bill, and, going up to the man, he waves his hands in imitation of the motions. The next thing Bill knows he is on his back in a den, with a lot of sinister ruffians bending over him. The chief asks him if he wants to join his blackhand band. "I join any kind of a band but a Joiman band," says Bill, and he is initiated at once. Then comes the drawing of lots. Bill has no idea what it is for, but he doesn't want to be left out of anything. So, in a moment, he finds himself commissioned to take a ukulele filled with dynamite to the chief's inamorata. She is a lovely lady, with a passion for Professor Jasbo, who teaches the ukulele, and who, the chief fears, has stolen her heart away from him. They are in the midst of a party when Bill arrives. A message from the chief lets him into the charmed circle at once, and he joins the group on the floor, having placed the dangerous instrument out of harm's way. There is a pause for refreshments, and in the scramble for the eats Bill mixes the instruments and brings back the loaded one to the chief instead of Jasbo's. The chief strikes a chord, and the whole gang goes up in smoke.
—Moving Picture World, September 22, 1917