As the result of a strike, a foundry lies idle and the men become ugly. The owner upholds the superintendent, who has been cheating both him and the men by falsifying the payrolls. The superintendent’s stenographer, a young girl, learns of his duplicity, and telegraphs the owner. The superintendent decides to take more of the owner’s money and securities, and to prevent exposure, locks the stenographer in the office vault. He then takes a train for New York. The girl’s lover, a railroad fireman, knows that she is in the office. He comes for her and discovers that she is in the vault. As the superintendent is the only one who knows the combination, the fireman and his engineer pursue the New York train on their engine and overtake it. After a desperate struggle the car containing the superintendent is dragged back to the foundry by the fireman’s engine. The superintendent is forced to open the vault and release the girl. The owner, learning that he has been cheated and robbed, brings the strike to an end.