John Benson is an inventor, but not a particularly successful one, and spends a lot of time drinking. His son Billy spends a lot of time defending his father, often with his fists, so he has few friends. One day, however, one of John's inventions actually works, and crooked lawyer Sidney Martin and his cohort Walter Howe think it can make money, so they plan to steal it. They frame Benson and get him thrown in jail. Billy must clear his father's name, get him out of jail, and retrieve the invention from the two crooks.