Katie Abbott, despairing of being a wallflower, is about to attempt suicide in the village pond when she is rescued by a young stranger. Following his heroic feat, the young man accepts a job in the town's automobile factory. Meanwhile, Henry Higginbotham, a clerk in the same factory, resigns when he suspects that the manager, J. W. Wiseman, is running an auto theft ring. After Wiseman announces his mayoral candidacy, Katie urges Higginbotham to oppose him. Higginbotham fails as an orator, but just as it appears that he will lose the election, the nice young man reveals himself to be an undercover newspaper reporter and exposes Wiseman's corruption. As a result, Wiseman is arrested, Higginbotham is elected mayor and Katie marries her hero.—AFI