Clarence Smith, a former mule driver for the Army and jack-of-all-trades, is mistaken for a taxi driver by wealthy businessman Mr. Wheeler. Unable to correct Wheeler, Clarence appropriates a taxi and drives Wheeler home. When it is discovered that Clarence can fix the water heater as well as he can garden, Wheeler hires him. Wheeler's family consists of his daughter Cora, who is in love with Tobias, an older man; his son Bobbie, who is in love with Cora's beautiful companion, Violet Pinney; and Mr. Wheeler's wife, who suspects that Mr. Wheeler is in love with Violet. Mr. Wheeler appreciates Clarence because he is imperturbable, while the rest of his family is constantly in an uproar. Much to the dismay of melodramatic Cora, Clarence is successful in throwing out Tobias, whom Mr. Wheeler believes is a fortune hunter. Bobbie confesses to Clarence that although he is in love with Violet, he once kissed the maid Della, who now demands money from him for not marrying her. Clarence himself falls in love with Violet. All the women in the household fall in love with Clarence after he transforms from a quiet, bespectacled bumbler, to a fun-loving saxophone player, and relates wild stories about growing up with cannibals and other improbabilities. Finally, Tobias returns and arouses suspicion that Clarence might be a confidence man who intends to swindle the family. He displays newspaper clippings of an embezzler who looks like Clarence, and because no one seems to know Clarence's last name, they confront him. He declares that he is Clarence Smith, a famous entomologist. No one believes him, and Violet, shocked at the possibility that the man with whom she has fallen in love is a swindler, tries to leave, but Clarence prevents her from going. After he reveals to Bobbie the butler and maid's extortion scheme, he knocks out the butler, Dinwiddie. Clarence explains to the family that he has been waiting for a job offer from Florida, after which, Cora finds him listed in Who's Who , and his reputation is saved. When he receives the job offer, Violet accepts his marriage proposal and they leave amid fond farewells. Afterward, the Wheeler family tries in vain to fix the water heater.