Having a municipal position, Bernard Ingals has almost bankrupted himself sending his three children to college. The youngsters all arrive home for Christmas Eve, and their parents do their utmost to give them a good time, but the thoughtless, selfish children make other plans and go to a party, leaving their parents to a lonely dinner. A member of the common council arrives at the Ingals home and orders Bernard to reinstate a municipal employee who has been dismissed; Bernard refuses and submits his resignation. The grandmother, a strong-minded old lady, sets out to put things right: she stakes Bernard to his life-long dream, his own greenhouse; then lectures the children on their thoughtless, profligate ways. The children reform and get jobs, and the goose hangs high at last.