A struggling clerk lives with his wife and two children. Their blissful life is threatened with the arrival of his scheming mother and sister. A short time later, the clerk disappears, abandoning his family, and his brother comes to their rescue. Exploiting the fragile situation, mischief makers suggest an immoral relationship between the clerk's brother and wife. Frustrated, the clerk's wife sends her two children to beg on the streets. Several years later, the elder of the two children, now working in a mill, meets a bearded beggar who, unknown to him, is actually his father. He obtains his father a job in the mill, and the family later reunites.