When, on a prank, shimmy dancer Marcia Meadows visits bookworm Horace Tarbox in his Yale dormitory, Horace falls madly in love and follows her to New York where he and Marcia marry. Denounced by his wealthy father, Horace attempts to support Marcia through his writing, but all his manuscripts are rejected, and he is fired from every job. Marcia continues dancing and one night, while trying to protect her from a fervent admirer, Horace is soundly thrashed. The incident forces Horace to take up athletics, and he is offered a job as a vaudeville trapeze artist. Marcia has a baby and for amusement writes a dictionary of slang. The book is published; Marcia becomes famous, and Horace's father forgives his son.