George Burton bursts into the little saloon he sometimes frequents and examines a fat wallet. On a shady street an elderly gentleman is discovered by a policeman, to whom he describes George as his assailant. In the saloon the barkeeper, of a philosophical turn of mind, nods in approval as he reads a paragrapher's comment and he shows it to George, "A man, however damned, can justify his existence in one single act." This starts the formation of a thought in George's mind. He leaves for his lodging house just in time to escape the policeman searching for him. George arrives at his room, sees that this and the adjoining room are not watched, and slides into the adjoining room through a secret passage he has constructed through the abutting wardrobes. It transpires, as he hurriedly starts to change and clean up, that he is living in a dual role. The near-sighted landlady admits the policeman, but when he looks at the transformed George suspiciously, indignantly denies that George is other than her star boarder. George is loved by Mary Fox. Her father is suspicious of George's calling but has no positive grounds on which to act, and break his daughter's happiness. The same night, following the foregoing holdup, George plans a rich haul at the banquet following a fashionable wedding. The police have planted a detective in his room to wait for him but he succeeds in donning his crook outfit and eluding the sleuth. At the fashionable home, he is seen by the watchman as he clambers in the nursery window, and only escapes capture because little Dorothy denies being out of her room, to escape a scolding for stealing out to watch the party. Little Dorothy discovers him, however, and starts the better impulse. He starts to clamber out the window but the watchman is waiting and shoots. A chase through the banquet hall leads to George's lodging and he again escapes through knocking out the waiting detective, throwing a chair through the window to divert attention, and sliding through the secret passageway. With the coming of morning the secret passage is discovered but George is off in his better role to see Mary, but is killed by an explosion. The police arrive too late, and Mary never knows that her sweetheart lost his life in the act that would justify his existence.