Jim, a boy who has always played second fiddle to his elder brother, Herbert, gets a chance to be a hero when, to protect his mother and sweetheart, Polly, he holds a murderer at bay with an unloaded shotgun. (Herbert took the shells when he went for help.) Eventually Jim faints, and Cragg, the killer, overpowers him. Simultaneously, Herbert returns with help; he takes all the credit and makes Jim look like a coward. Later, Jim proves his courage when he saves Polly and overpowers Cragg, now an escaped convict. Herbert bows to Jim and returns to college.