Judge Jeffer has sentenced a woman to thirty days, after she, in contempt of court, has answered the judge and expressed the hope that he never would be able to sleep again. The judge soon becomes obsessed by this curse, and is unable to get sleep. The first night is one of torment. The slightest sound makes his nerves tingle. In the morning he sees his physician, who prescribes, but that evening he is again unable to sleep. The bell in a neighboring tower awakens his jumping nerves to further action and the blind, slamming against the house, contributes to the judge’s discomfort. After he has spent three nights of horror, during which time he has been haunted by visions of the woman he sentenced, the judge appears in court, haggard and drawn for want of rest. He instructs the prosecutor to direct the probation officer to look into the case of the woman he sentenced three days before, as in his opinion, the sentence was unjust. A woman is brought before him with her child, for sleeping on a bench in the park. The judge looks down upon her kindly and when court is over, goes with her to her squalid flat. He pays her rent, thereby preventing her eviction, and asks his beneficiary to pray that he might be able to sleep. An earnest prayer is said by the grateful woman and that night, Judge Jeffer, for the first time in four nights, is able to sleep. His valet enters as the tower clock tolls the hour of twelve, but the judge does not move.