The Rev. Frank Speakman has been to a rural congregation, and is entertained by the members. He is considered a fine catch matrimonially and the ladies set their caps for him.
Veteran Warner and old gardener Burns vie for the hand of Widow Simpson, and the gardener steals the former's uniform and joins in the ranks of a parade, pursued by his rival.
Set in a tenement, a lonely confirmed bachelor occupies a room across the hall from a dour spinster. Children run amok in the hallways playing pranks on the two.
Silas Croft was a kindly old Englishman who had a farm in South Africa. With him resided his two nieces, whom he had taken from their drunken, worthless father when they were of a tender age.
The girl was young, pretty, and also a good businesswoman; When her father died she took up the reins of management and ran an orange grove with successful results.