Jed Gilmore, a boy of sixteen, had been left at the Scranton poorhouse as a two-year-old. Wishing to leave the poorhouse, Jed runs away and eventually finds work as a companion for a rich man's young son. Yet upon arriving at New York City, he is robbed of thirty-five dollars, his entire fortune. After being enticed unknowingly into robbing a yacht in New York harbor, Jed clears himself and befriends the yacht owner, who employs him. In the meantime, Mr. Peake, a New York detective, verifies that Jed is really Sir Robert Fenwick, heir of an English estate. Mr. Peake must find Jed in the big city to give him the news of a past betrayal that will change his life.