The husband comes home ill and when the doctor is summoned he leaves medicine with directions that it be given to the invalid every half hour. Night comes on and the wife prepares for a lonely vigil that she may faithfully administer the medicine. In the still hours of the early morning a thief breaks into the library. The wife starts at the sound and breaks the bottle. She knows that if the husband learns of the presence of the intruder he will succumb to the shock. There is no telephone in the house and as the nearest neighbor is almost a block away the woman is frantic when she discovers it is time to give the medicine. She pursues the only course and appeals to the thief. The latter, fearing a trap, will not listen to the request and proceeds to fill a sack with loot, seeing that the wife is defenseless. Stepping to the curtain he realizes the seriousness of the woman’s predicament and finally consents to secure a new supply of medicine from the doctor. When the burglar is admitted to the doctor’s house he hides his sack of stolen goods, which is discovered by the town constable. Recognizing an old offender, the officer trails the thief when he returns to deliver the medicine. The husband’s life is saved by the thief’s timely arrival and when the constable would lead his prisoner away, the wife declares that she has presented the crook with the valuables in reward for his services.