Freeman Tilden

Lester Crope, who has a penchant for inventing imaginative stories, alarms his village by reporting that the dam above the mayor's house has burst; incidentally he "saves" the life of Catherine Willis, the mayor's niece. The town council sends Lester to Dr. Mills of Boston to be treated for his condition. Now cured, his propensity for telling the truth on all occasions upsets village life: he works in a grocery store and informs customers of stale products; he also ruins a real-estate deal that would have meant prosperity for the town. Dr. Mills states that the only way to return Lester to his former safe tricks will be to arrange that he fall in love.

Coaxed by sharpers, who seek to profit by his rustic innocence, the boy from the small town goes to the city with them and become, innocently enough, a successful swindler, but he learns of the deception and returns home, too ashamed to seek his old sweetheart. The crooks return to try a blackmail game, but Ernie's eyes are opened now. He cleans up in whirlwind fashion.