Sam Preston, who prints a small town newspaper, is called by wanderlust. He deserts his wife Ellen and two small daughters, Mary Jane and Lucille. Years later, he returns to the town and takes a job as a carnival barker while searching for his family. By accident he meets Mary Jane and learns that Ellen is running a successful newspaper. She is supporting Kenneth Marvin, a political candidate, because she believes that he is the only candidate not in the pay of special interests. Keeping his identity secret from his daughters, Sam accepts Ellen's offer to become the family's cook and general handyman in order to be close to his children. Through an old friend, John Wagner, who happens to be the rival candidate, Sam learns that Marvin has been accepting payoffs from a produce company. Ellen doesn't believe him and demands proof. With the help of Wagner's son King and a young reporter, Sam finds the cancelled checks and delivers them to Ellen on election eve. She is in the process of printing a special edition based on Sam's evidence when Marvin's men destroy her machines. Sam repairs an old printer, and working feverishly, he and Eellen put an extra edition on the streets in time to win the election for Wagner. Ellen forgives Sam and, after he reveals his real identity to his daughters, asks him to take over as editor of the paper.