In order to conduct a secret dalliance with Mrs. Dathis aboard his former yacht, Augustus Billings uses the name "Johnson" and inscribes a photograph of himself with his assumed name. Mrs. Dathis' jealous husband later tears the photograph and only the curly black hair remains with the inscription "Johnson." Billings' mother-in-law, Mrs. Batterson, and his wife investigate Billings' explanation of his absence. Billings accompanies them to Mexico where supposedly he had been called to look after recently acquired oil properties. Billings takes them to a property owned by an intimate friend, but the property has been sold to a man named Joseph Johnson, who is aboard the same ship to Mexico as Billings, his wife and mother-in-law, as well as a revenge-seeking Mr. Dathis. Also on board are Francis Faddish and his daughter Leonora, who is to become the bartered wife of Johnson. Johnson knocks out the jealous Mr. Dathis, who has been searching everywhere for the curly-haired philanderer. After Johnson mistakes Billings' wife for his own bride-to-be, Billings tricks Johnson into a declaration of marriage with Mrs. Batterson. Billings is therefore relieved of the mother-in-law who interfered with his marital happiness.