Samson Peabody is the janitor in an apartment building where he and his wife Ethel live with a large crowd of Samson's freeloading relatives. When more relatives come to stay, Ethel throws them out. A scheming occupant of the building reads Samson's mail and poses as a clairvoyant prediciting the events of the letter; the arrival of Samson's rich Uncle for dinner. However, the Uncle is a penniless lunatic (imagining himself to be The Emperor Jones) and a pickpocket. He steals the chicken of the dinner, several watches of the guests, the clairvoyant's crystal ball and in the final scene, all the clothes of the people in the room.