The wealthy Kilbournes are a family of eccentrics, especially Mrs. Emily Kilbourne, whose hobby is rehabilitating tramps. When her latest tramp leaves suddenly, taking all of the family silver with him, she vows to turn over a new leaf. Her resolve is short-lived, though, when a grubby gentleman named Rawlins arrives at the estate. He merely wants to use the phone to report that his car has crashed, but she sees him as another man to save. Despite grown daughter Jerry Kilbourne's protests, Rawlins is hired as the new chauffeur. Finding the situation amusing, he soon fascinates the women in the house, but not Mr. Kilbourne or Grosvenor, the butler. At a dinner party in which Mrs. Kilbourne tries to pass Rawlins off as a "gentleman," he so captivates Senator Harlan's daughter Minerva that the Kilbournes have to pretend that he is a houseguest. While Mr. Kilbourne is worried that Rawlins will ruin a lucrative business deal with the senator, he soon realizes that Rawlins has actually improved his business and his family's happiness as well. Then, just as the entire family comes to depend on Rawlins, they read in the morning paper that he was not a tramp at all, but a famous author named E. Wade Rawlins, who died in a automobile crash near their house. Unaware that his death has mistakenly been reported, Rawlins arrives to find Mrs. Kilbourne, Jerry, and the maids all fainting from shock. Mr. Kilbourne and his younger daughter Marion are helpless in their attempts to revive them. Rawlins is able to revive Jerry, though, and they admit that they are in love. Grosvenor, thinking that Mrs. Kilbourne's string of tramps are better off than he, grabs a knapsack and heads for the open road.