Smith & Smith, publishers, in a letter, notify Professor Bernard that they will accept his latest story if he will alter the enclosed paragraph: "Marry me and I will do away with my wife as I did her father." The absent-minded professor leaves this paragraph on his study table while he goes to the store to secure some cloth for his wife. The Professor, however, is very absent-minded, and forgets his mission when he meets a group of firemen who induce him to play a game of checkers. In the meantime, Ellen, the cook, is having her troubles with the butcher boy, who brings liver instead of chops, as ordered.