Japanese soldier Hokoruma is sent to San Francisco to obtain at all hazards a plan of the new harbor fortifications about to be erected. He registers at a Japanese employment bureau and secures a position of butler in the home of the Commanding General, Colonel Jones. This gives him the opportunity to learn and see much that is necessary for him to know in accomplishing his end. The Colonel's daughter Clara is engaged to Lieutenant Pond, and the marriage is set for the near future. At the Officers' Club, Lieut. Pond is guilty of an act unbecoming to a gentleman, and the Colonel, who is severe but just, offers him the choice of two alternatives: court-martial or resignation. The Lieutenant is overwhelmed with the threatened disgrace. But he thinks he sees a means of escape; he will persuade his fiancée to elope with him. The Colonel would never carry out the proceedings against his son-in-law. He enters Clara's home secretly and, while waiting in a dark room, while she is preparing to join him, a man stealthily creeps in and endeavors to make away with some important papers, which are kept in a secret drawer. Recovering from the surprise the Lieutenant springs on the intruder and there is a terrific struggle, at the height of which Clara enters the room. She is horrified to see her lover in the clutches of a supposed burglar, and immediately arouses the household. Her parents appear, and the spy succumbs to the vigorous blows inflicted by his opponent. When the lights are turned on, it is revealed that the would-be robber is none other than Hokoruma, the butler. Lieut. Pond is, of course, fully forgiven by the Colonel, who is saved from disgrace by the courage displaced by the man whom he was to court-martial, and to whom he now willingly and gladly gives his daughter.