Skinem, a rich old money lender, insists upon the immediate payment of a note which his proud, but poor neighbor, Lang, is unable to meet. Skinem then proposes to cancel the debt if Lang will give to him in marriage his pretty daughter, Marie. The father indignantly refuses the proposal, but Marie happens to overhear the conversation, and sees a way out of their difficulties. She mischievously tells the old man that if her father doesn’t wish the marriage she does, and consents to be his bride. Now, Marie is secretly engaged to Paul, the nephew of the old miser, and easily enlists his assistance in a plot against his uncle. Paul gathers together a number of the villagers, and tells them of the plan of action. When the hated Skinem takes the girl to his cottage and then goes to look for the squire to “tie the knot,” his fellow townsmen pelt him with potatoes. To cap the climax of his discomfiture, he returns home to find that his nephew has married Marie. At this the old man goes into a terrible rage, but as he had previously canceled the debt, and arranged a marriage settlement, he is helpless. Seeing nothing else to do, he soon joins the happy throng in making merry at the wedding.