Mrs. Van Dusen has a will of her own and rules poor Van Dusen with a hand of iron. One day she demands some money, and when Van Dusen gives her a bill she insists upon having more. He mildly protests at her extravagance, but before he is through, Susanna indignantly seizes the purse from his hand. This gets his "dander" up, and while Susanna is dressing. Van Dusen stealthily removes the purse from her handbag. Thinking she still has it, Susanna hastens away to purchase some shoes. While she is trying them on, Mrs. Riley, poor but honest, leaves the store, taking Susanna's handbag by mistake. She soon discovers her error, however, and rushing back returns Susanna's bag and recovers her own. When she is gone, Susanna looks in the bag and discovers that her purse is gone. Thinking Mrs. Riley had stolen it, Susanna does a marathon up the street and overtaking Mrs. Riley has her arrested. In the meantime, the clerk at the store gives pursuit, as Mrs. Van Dusen has left wearing the new but unpaid for shoes. Both women are taken off to jail and Mrs. Van Dusen is permitted to call her husband by telephone and explain her troubles. Van Dusen is now in a predicament. He must either explain matters to Susanna and suffer the consequences or poor, innocent Mrs. Riley will go to jail. While Susanna is arguing her case, Van Dusen replaces the purse in his wife's bag. When in her argument to the court she opens her bag, she is nonplussed at finding her purse inside. Believing she has made a terrible mistake and that the purse has been in her bag all along, she makes such amends as she can and is given a scathing rebuke by the judge for her carelessness. Thereupon she pays for the shoes and generously presents Mrs. Riley with the entire contents of the purse to appease her. A blind beggar follows the pair home and succeeds in mulcting Van Dusen under pain of exposure. Mr. Van Dusen concludes that fooling his wife is expensive business.