Genteel southern horse-breeder Col. Richard Fairfax is framed on the charge of embezzlement by Martyn Selsby, his business partner, and sentenced to jail. Selsby soon dies of apoplexy, first dictating a confession to exonerate Fairfax; Selsby's wife is afraid of scandal, however, and places the confession in a wall safe. Time passes. The colonel serves out his sentence and returns home in the company of four friends he has made in prison: John Doe Smit, Red Kelly, Soup Conley, and Dude Morlanti. Selsby's son, Tom, who is infatuated with the colonel's daughter, Kate, offers to give her his father's confession if she will marry him. Smith overhears this remark and with the help of his former cellmates recovers the confession. The colonel's name is cleared, and his horse, entered in an important race, wins a gold cup. Kate and John Doe get along just fine.—Pamela Short