When his wife Martha leaves town to visit her sister, Milton Higby, a henpecked draftsman with a flair for inventing gadgets, accompanies friend Larry Summers to the racetrack. There Milton, a novice at horseracing, mistakenly places twenty dollars on the daily double but wins a small fortune. To celebrate, Milton throws a party for Larry and his two girl friends, Marge Andrews and Sally Guthrie, at Sally's apartment. Intoxicated, Milton falls asleep. After Larry and Marge leave, Sally's estranged husband Jim comes to the apartment and after a heated quarrel, shoots her. Upon awakening, Milton finds Sally's dead body, and fearing that he will be blamed for the crime, runs away and becomes a tramp. While traveling one day with Smiley, a fellow tramp, Milton finds a disfigured body along the railroad tracks and assumes the identity of the dead man, Arthur Ballin, who is then buried as Milton. Some time later, Milton is struck down by an automobile, and the papers he is carrying identify him as the estranged son of millionaire John Ballin. Believing Milton to be his long-lost son, Ballin persuades him to return home and finances him in the business of manufacturing gadgets. Months later, Marge, having just married Larry, buys one of the gadgets and takes it home to Larry, who recognizes it as one of Milton's inventions. Believing that the Ballin company has stolen his late friend's idea, Larry launches an investigation which eventually forces Milton to disclose his true identity. As Milton prepares to face charges for murdering Sally, the police manage to obtain a confession from Jim. Although Ballin and Martha forgive Milton, Milton is accused of murdering Arnold. After Milton is convicted, Smiley comes forward to corroborate Milton's story of finding Arthur's body on the railroad tracks. Finally absolved, Milton reunites with Martha, firmly convinced that no one can escape trouble by running away from it.