Though he had always been devoted to his wife, Alice, circumstantial evidence causes Arsdale, candidate for mayor in a large city, to suspect her infidelity. He sees her enter an apartment house with Norton, a gambler, and though he waits for some time, does not see her come out. Later, in his own home, he hears her tell the same man to return that evening when he will be at the club. That night when Norton calls, Arsdale is hidden, and watches his actions. His wife is taking a little nap on the soft, and he sees Norton enter and stoop over her sleeping form. Thinking he has kissed her, he raises a revolver, and in his insane fury, shoots him. For he does not know that the whole thing had been worked out by his political rivals who are anxious to cast a slur on his reputation in order to re-elect the present mayor. He does not know that Norton, the man he suspected and killed, was the husband of his wife's sister, Mabel. When Alice entered the apartment house with Norton, it was for the purpose of rescuing her sister Mabel who had fallen into the clutches of one of the drunken henchmen of Arsdale's rival. Later, after Mabel had married Norton, he started drinking to excess, and when he refused to stop at her request, she left him. She then returned to Alice, who promised to keep the affair secret and try to buy Norton off. When Norton called, she told him to return that night with this intention in view. When Arsdale saw him stoop over his wife's reclining form, his poisoned mind readily believed the false evidence of his eyes, that Norton had kissed her. Infuriated as he was, he would have shot his wife, too, but the ringing of the telephone bell brings him back to his senses. He answers the call, and the message which comes over the wire, takes the blood from his flushed cheeks. His face bespeaks the intense anguish of his tortured mind, for he has heard the joyous voice of a well-wisher, congratulating him upon his election to the mayoralty. Quivering with emotion, he realizes that his hasty action has ruined his career and probably his life.