The widow, Floss, is friendly with the sheriff. Claude, a bedraggled tramp, calls at her house and asks for something to eat. She offers him some freshly cooked pie, if he will chop some wood. As soon as she has gone, he takes the pies and runs away. The widow sees him and follows him with a shotgun. She catches him and marches him to the sheriff’s office, where he is formally arrested. He is sentenced to thirty days in jail, and is the jail’s only inmate. The sheriff takes pity on him, after a few days and gets friendly with him, giving him tobacco, and other luxuries. He discovers that Claude can play poker and arranges a game. Claude induces the sheriff to loan him a dollar to make the game interesting. Claude wins all the money that the sheriff bad. He makes the sheriff buy him a new outfit and borrows his shaving outfit. The sheriff waxes angry and throws him into his cell. However, he leaves his keys hanging conveniently in the lock. Meanwhile, the widow calls and brings the sheriff delicacies. Claude lets himself out of the cell and goes to the sheriff’s office. The widow is attentive to him and the sheriff gets angry. After she leaves he orders him out of his jail. Claude goes, and passes the widow’s house. She invites him in. He becomes friendly with her and proposes marriage. The sheriff, then deciding to visit her, starts on his way. He arrives just in time to see the minister binding the knot and leaves in chagrin.