Professor Miller is so completely wrapped up in his books that he is threatened with illness, but in spite of the urgings of his friends he refuses to take a needed vacation. It is not until the family doctor appears upon the scene and announces that unless the man of letters takes a rest he will have but a short time to live, that Miller consents to go on a journey. His faithful old housekeeper packs his valise and the professor boards a train for his destination. In the same compartment is a young woman and an elderly matron, and the latter removes her shoes for better comfort. When the young woman alights from the coach, she realizes that she has forgotten her overshoes, and the professor gallantly throws from the window the shoes belonging to the matron. There is an exciting scene, but the professor makes due apologies and supplies the price of a pair of new shoes. A journey in a stage coach is next in order and the professor manages to get mixed up in all sorts of complications in his desire to be helpful to his fellow passengers. Upon arriving at an inn, he collides with a bicycle, and is thrown into a ditch, and is rescued in a sadly battered condition. After signing the register, the professor is shown to a room in which the only furniture is a hard cot and a chair, but as he is weary, he retires, and is about to drop into slumber when a noise under the bed attracts his attention. He investigates and finds a dog. The animal is ejected, but finds his way back to the room by means of a hole leading from the courtyard. Again the intruder is ejected, but when he returns a third time, the professor suspects that he is sleeping over a kennel, and makes a protest to the landlord. On the following morning, thoroughly fatigued, and wishing for the comforts of his own home, the professor boards an early train and arrives at his house in time to find his faithful housekeeper entertaining a number of her female cronies at luncheon. They are dumbfounded and attempt to beat a hasty retreat, but the old gentleman is so overjoyed at being home, and the prospect of a good meal and his own comfortable bed, that be shows no signs of resentment and enters into the spirit of the occasion.