Shortly before sailing home from Europe, George Hayne had sent Cecilia Jefferson, his American fiancée, the reassuring word that by marrying her he would save her family from financial extremity. To Cecilia’s way of thinking and feeling, the marriage is to be only an act of self-immolation. The liner is long overdue, and by the time Hayne reaches his house in a carriage, the bride is waiting at the church. Hayne, in his haste to don his nuptial garments, forgets to set the snap-lock, and finds himself a prisoner in his clothes closet. While he was homeward bound, his next-door neighbor Holman, a financial crook, had stolen an important Secret Service cipher message from its bearer. Gordon, a Secret Service agent, is assigned to recover the message, and under the name of John Burnham, contrives to be introduced to Holman as an expert code reader. At Holman’s house, he substitutes a bogus message for the genuine one, and leaves just as Holman discovers the substitution. Gordon sees the carriage in front of Hayne’s house, and orders the sleepy driver to take him away quickly. The driver, who has paid small heed to Hayne’s identity pays still smaller attention to Gordon’s physical make-up promptly obeys, and knowing that Hayne is to be taken to the church, speeds Gordon thither. In the carriage, Gordon puts on a mustache and an imperial, thereby unconsciously making himself resemble Hayne most closely. At the church, he is mistaken for Hayne, and as duty suggests he goes through the marriage ceremony. Hayne, after much exertion, frees himself from the clothes closet, finds his carriage gone, and scurries to the church, where he is informed by the sexton that there was a wedding, but it’s over. Gordon and Cecilia start on their honeymoon, and are shadowed by a detective, employed by Holman. In the Pullman while Cecilia is sleeping, Gordon removes his facial disguise, and is about to enter the smoker when he sees the detective, whose mission he divines. He quickly returns to his berth. Meanwhile, Holman’s detective snugly tucks himself in bed, when a defect in the driving-wheel of the engine is discovered. With the train at a standstill, Gordon sees his way to escape with Cecilia. They cautiously leave the Pullman and race wildly down the embankment. Before he can put on his clothes the train starts, and the detective’s errand is abruptly ended. Despite his efforts to prove his identity, Hayne is looked upon as an impostor by the Jeffersons and their friends. Gordon and his wife proceed to Washington, where, for his clever bit of work, he is appointed Chief of the Foreign Secret Service Bureau. This good news and a rapidly-acquired love for Gordon bring full content to Cecilia.