Matthew Putnam, heir to the Putnam Dairy fortune, returns from Europe to the small town of Rockridge to attend to family business at the request of his bedridden Aunt Nettie. Once in town, Matt visits his old friends, the Olivers, and comments to the father, Will, that his daughter and Matt's childhood friend, Marge, has grown up. The next morning, Marge's jealous beau, Roy Daniels leaves for New York City, telling Marge it is where a man has opportunities. But when Marge has problems balancing the church account books, Matt calls Roy and orders him to return. The local gossips overhear part of the conversation by listening on the party line and assume that Roy is being forced into a shotgun wedding. As a result, Marge loses her job at the Sherman bank because she is labelled a "bad" girl. Marge assumes that the local women are merely jealous of her friendship with Matt. After Marge's entry in the flower show is disqualified, she joins Matt and her family on a fishing trip, during which Matt tells her that he loves her. When Matt returns home, he finds Nettie listening to the party line and she relates the gossip about Marge to him. The next day, Will, armed with a pistol, visits the barbershop and demands to know how the rumors were started. After learning that his call to Roy started the stories, Matt seeks revenge on the town by withdrawing the Putnam accounts from the bank and firing all 300 Rockridge employees from the dairy. When a town meeting is called, Nettie leaves her sickbed to attend and puts the residents in their place by providing unsavory details on the townspeople in attendance. Later, as Matt and Marge are married, the local gossips return to their favorite hobby: listening on the party wire.